Force sensor with angled coupling

ABSTRACT

A force sensor particularly suited for use in an electronic stylus that senses an applied force on its nib for recording pen strokes and handwriting recognition. The sensor has a load bearing member for receiving an input force to be sensed and associated circuitry for converting the input force into an output signal indicative of the input force. A coupling at least partially transmits the applied force to be the input force acting on the load bearing member. The force transfer coupling transferring the forces so that the applied force and the input force are not co-linear.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the fields of interactive paper,printing systems, computer publishing, computer applications,human-computer interfaces using styli with force sensors and informationappliances.

CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

The following applications have been filed by the Applicantsimultaneously with the present application:

NPS120US NPS122US NPS123US NPS124US SBF004US SBF005US FNE027US FNE028USFNE029US

The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated hereinby reference. The above applications have been identified by theirfiling docket number, which will be substituted with the correspondingapplication number, once assigned.

CROSS REFERENCES

Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present inventionare disclosed in the following U.S. patents/patent applications filed bythe applicant or assignee of the present invention:

09/517,539 6,566,858 6,331,946 6,246,970 6,442,525 09/517,384 09/505,9516,374,354 09/517,608 09/505,147 6,757,832 6,334,190 6,745,331 09/517,54110/203,559 10/203,560 10/203,564 10/636,263 10/636,283 10/866,60810/902,889 10/902,833 10/940,653 10/942,858 10/727,181 10/727,16210/727,163 10/727,245 10/727,204 10/727,233 10/727,280 10/727,15710/727,178 10/727,210 10/727,257 10/727,238 10/727,251 10/727,15910/727,180 10/727,179 10/727,192 10/727,274 10/727,164 10/727,16110/727,198 10/727,158 10/754,536 10/754,938 10/727,227 10/727,16010/934,720 11/212,702 11/272,491 11/474,278 10/296,522 6,795,21510/296,535 09/575,109 10/296,525 09/575,110 09/607,985 6,398,3326,394,573 6,622,923 6,747,760 10/189,459 10/884,881 10/943,94110/949,294 11/039,866 11/123,011 11/123,010 11/144,769 11/148,23711/248,435 11/248,426 11/478,599 10/922,846 10/922,845 10/854,52110/854,522 10/854,488 10/854,487 10/854,503 10/854,504 10/854,50910/854,510 10/854,496 10/854,497 10/854,495 10/854,498 10/854,51110/854,512 10/854,525 10/854,526 10/854,516 10/854,508 10/854,50710/854,515 10/854,506 10/854,505 10/854,493 10/854,494 10/854,48910/854,490 10/854,492 10/854,491 10/854,528 10/854,523 10/854,52710/854,524 10/854,520 10/854,514 10/854,519 10/854,513 10/854,49910/854,501 10/854,500 10/854,502 10/854,518 10/854,517 10/934,62811/212,823 10/728,804 10/728,952 10/728,806 10/728,834 10/728,79010/728,884 10/728,970 10/728,784 10/728,783 10/728,925 10/728,84210/728,803 10/728,780 10/728,779 10/773,189 10/773,204 10/773,19810/773,199 10/773,190 10/773,201 10/773,191 10/773,183 10/773,19510/773,196 10/773,186 10/773,200 10/773,185 10/773,192 10/773,19710/773,203 10/773,187 10/773,202 10/773,188 10/773,194 10/773,19310/773,184 11/008,118 11/060,751 11/060,805 11/188,017 11/298,77311/298,774 11/329,157 6,623,101 6,406,129 6,505,916 6,457,809 6,550,8956,457,812 10/296,434 6,428,133 6,746,105 10/407,212 10/407,20710/683,064 10/683,041 6,750,901 6,476,863 6,788,336 11/097,30811/097,309 11/097,335 11/097,299 11/097,310 11/097,213 11/210,68711/097,212 11/212,637 MTD001US MTD002US 11/246,687 11/246,718 11/246,68511/246,686 11/246,703 11/246,691 11/246,711 11/246,690 11/246,71211/246,717 11/246,709 11/246,700 11/246,701 11/246,702 11/246,66811/246,697 11/246,698 11/246,699 11/246,675 11/246,674 11/246,66711/246,684 11/246,672 11/246,673 11/246,683 11/246,682 10/760,27210/760,273 10/760,187 10/760,182 10/760,188 10/760,218 10/760,21710/760,216 10/760,233 10/760,246 10/760,212 10/760,243 10/760,20110/760,185 10/760,253 10/760,255 10/760,209 10/760,208 10/760,19410/760,238 7,077,505 10/760,235 7,077,504 10/760,189 10/760,26210/760,232 10/760,231 10/760,200 10/760,190 10/760,191 10/760,22710/760,207 10/760,181 11/446,227 11/454,904 11/472,345 11/474,273MPA38US 11/474,279 MPA40US MPA41US 11/003,786 11/003,616 11/003,41811/003,334 11/003,600 11/003,404 11/003,419 11/003,700 11/003,60111/003,618 11/003,615 11/003,337 11/003,698 11/003,420 6,984,01711/003,699 11/071,473 11/003,463 11/003,701 11/003,683 11/003,61411/003,702 11/003,684 11/003,619 11/003,617 11/293,800 11/293,80211/293,801 11/293,808 11/293,809 CAG006US CAG007US CAG008US CAG009USCAG010US CAG011US 11/246,676 11/246,677 11/246,678 11/246,679 11/246,68011/246,681 11/246,714 11/246,713 11/246,689 11/246,671 11/246,67011/246,669 11/246,704 11/246,710 11/246,688 11/246,716 11/246,71511/246,707 11/246,706 11/246,705 11/246,708 11/246,693 11/246,69211/246,696 11/246,695 11/246,694 FNE010US FNE011US FNE012US FNE013USFNE015US FNE016US FNE017US FNE018US FNE019US FNE020US FNE021US FNE022USFNE023US FNE024US FNE025US FNE026US KIP001US KPE001US KPE002US KPE003USKPE004US 11/293,832 11/293,838 11/293,825 11/293,841 11/293,79911/293,796 11/293,797 11/293,798 11/293,804 11/293,840 11/293,80311/293,833 11/293,834 11/293,835 11/293,836 11/293,837 11/293,79211/293,794 11/293,839 11/293,826 11/293,829 11/293,830 11/293,82711/293,828 11/293,795 11/293,823 11/293,824 11/293,831 11/293,81511/293,819 11/293,818 11/293,817 11/293,816 RMC001US 10/760,25410/760,210 10/760,202 10/760,197 10/760,198 10/760,249 10/760,26310/760,196 10/760,247 10/760,223 10/760,264 10/760,244 10/760,24510/760,222 10/760,248 10/760,236 10/760,192 10/760,203 10/760,20410/760,205 10/760,206 10/760,267 10/760,270 10/760,259 10/760,27110/760,275 10/760,274 10/760,268 10/760,184 10/760,195 10/760,18610/760,261 10/760,258 11/442,178 11/474,272 11/474,315 11/014,76411/014,763 11/014,748 11/014,747 11/014,761 11/014,760 11/014,75711/014,714 11/014,713 11/014,762 11/014,724 11/014,723 11/014,75611/014,736 11/014,759 11/014,758 11/014,725 11/014,739 11/014,73811/014,737 11/014,726 11/014,745 11/014,712 11/014,715 11/014,75111/014,735 11/014,734 11/014,719 11/014,750 11/014,749 11/014,74611/014,769 11/014,729 11/014,743 11/014,733 11/014,754 11/014,75511/014,765 11/014,766 11/014,740 11/014,720 11/014,753 11/014,75211/014,744 11/014,741 11/014,768 11/014,767 11/014,718 11/014,71711/014,716 11/014,732 11/014,742 11/097,268 11/097,185 11/097,18411/293,820 11/293,813 11/293,822 11/293,812 11/293,821 11/293,81411/293,793 11/293,842 11/293,811 11/293,807 11/293,806 11/293,80511/293,810 10/815,621 10/815,612 10/815,630 10/815,637 10/815,63810/815,640 10/815,642 10/815,643 10/815,644 10/815,618 10/815,63910/815,635 10/815,647 10/815,634 10/815,632 10/815,631 10/815,64810/815,641 10/815,645 10/815,646 10/815,617 10/815,620 10/815,61510/815,613 10/815,633 10/815,619 10/815,616 10/815,614 60/702,191HYG019US HYG020US HYG021US HYG022US HYG023US HYG024US HYG025US10/815,636 10/815,649 11/041,650 11/041,651 11/041,652 11/041,64911/041,610 11/041,609 11/041,626 11/041,627 11/041,624 11/041,62511/041,556 11/041,580 11/041,723 11/041,698 11/041,648 10/815,60910/815,627 10/815,626 10/815,610 10/815,611 10/815,623 7,070,11010/815,629 HYT010US 10/815,625 10/815,624 10/815,628 10/913,37510/913,373 10/913,374 10/913,372 10/913,377 10/913,378 10/913,38010/913,379 10/913,376 10/913,381 10/986,402 11/172,816 11/172,81511/172,814 IRB016US IRB017US IRB018US 10/409,876 10/409,848 10/409,84511/084,796 11/084,742 11/084,806 09/575,197 7,079,712 09/575,1236,825,945 09/575,165 6,813,039 09/693,415 6,987,506 6,824,044 09/608,9707,038,797 6,980,318 6,816,274 09/575,139 09/575,186 6,681,045 6,678,4996,679,420 6,963,845 6,976,220 6,728,000 09/693,219 09/575,145 6,976,0356,813,558 6,766,942 6,965,454 6,995,859 09/575,192 09/663,640 09/609,3036,922,779 6,978,019 6,847,883 09/693,647 09/721,895 09/607,84309/693,690 6,959,298 6,973,450 09/609,553 6,965,882 09/608,02209/575,181 09/722,174 09/721,896 10/291,522 6,718,061 10/291,52310/291,471 7,012,710 6,825,956 10/291,481 10/291,509 10/291,82510/291,519 7,031,010 6,972,864 6,862,105 7,009,738 6,989,911 6,982,80710/291,576 6,829,387 6,714,678 6,644,545 6,609,653 6,651,879 10/291,55510/291,510 10/291,592 10/291,542 7,044,363 7,004,390 6,867,880 7,034,9536,987,581 10/291,556 10/291,821 10/291,525 10/291,586 10/291,82210/291,524 10/291,553 6,850,931 6,865,570 6,847,961 10/685,52310/685,583 10/685,455 10/685,584 10/757,600 10/804,034 10/793,9336,889,896 10/831,232 10/884,882 6,996,274 10/943,938 10/943,87410/943,872 10/944,044 10/943,942 10/944,043 10/949,293 10/943,8776,986,459 10/954,170 10/981,773 10/981,626 10/981,616 10/981,62710/974,730 10/986,337 10/992,713 11/006,536 11/020,256 11/020,10611/020,260 11/020,321 11/020,319 11/026,045 11/059,696 11/051,03211/059,674 11/107,944 11/107,941 11/082,940 11/082,815 11/082,82711/082,829 6,991,153 6,991,154 11/124,256 11/123,136 11/154,67611/159,196 11/182,002 11/202,251 11/202,252 11/202,253 11/203,20011/202,218 11/206,778 11/203,424 11/222,977 11/228,450 11/227,23911/286,334 11/298,632 11/349,143 11/442,428 11/442,385 NPA258US NPA259US7,068,382 7,007,851 6,957,921 6,457,883 10/743,671 7,044,381 11/203,20509/928,055 09/927,684 09/928,108 7,038,066 09/927,809 7,062,6516,789,194 6,789,191 10/900,129 10/900,127 10/913,328 10/913,35010/982,975 10/983,029 11/331,109 6,644,642 6,502,614 6,622,999 6,669,3856,827,116 7,011,128 10/949,307 6,549,935 6,987,573 6,727,996 6,591,8846,439,706 6,760,119 09/575,198 7,064,851 6,826,547 6,290,349 6,428,1556,785,016 6,831,682 6,741,871 6,927,871 6,980,306 6,965,439 6,840,6067,036,918 6,977,746 6,970,264 7,068,389 10/659,027 10/659,026 10/884,88510/884,883 10/901,154 10/932,044 10/962,412 10/962,510 10/962,55210/965,733 10/965,933 10/974,742 10/982,974 10/983,018 10/986,37511/107,817 11/148,238 11/149,160 11/250,465 11/327,491 6,982,7986,870,966 6,822,639 6,474,888 6,627,870 6,724,374 6,788,982 09/722,1416,788,293 6,946,672 6,737,591 09/722,172 09/693,514 6,792,165 09/722,0886,795,593 6,980,704 6,768,821 10/291,366 7,041,916 6,797,895 7,015,90110/782,894 10/782,895 10/778,056 10/778,058 10/778,060 10/778,05910/778,063 10/778,062 10/778,061 10/778,057 10/846,895 10/917,46810/917,467 10/917,466 10/917,465 10/917,356 10/948,169 10/948,25310/948,157 10/917,436 10/943,856 10/919,379 7,019,319 10/943,87810/943,849 7,043,096 11/071,267 11/144,840 11/155,556 11/155,55711/193,481 11/193,435 11/193,482 11/193,479 11/255,941 11/281,67111/298,474 7,055,739 09/575,129 6,830,196 6,832,717 09/721,86210/473,747 10/120,441 6,843,420 10/291,718 6,789,731 7,057,608 6,766,9446,766,945 10/291,715 10/291,559 10/291,660 10/531,734 10/409,86410/309,358 10/537,159 10/410,484 7,077,333 6,983,878 10/786,63110/853,782 10/893,372 6,929,186 6,994,264 7,017,826 7,014,123 10/971,05110/971,145 10/971,146 7,017,823 7,025,276 10/990,459 11/059,68411/074,802 NPT058US 10/492,169 10/492,152 10/492,168 10/492,16110/492,154 10/502,575 10/531,229 10/683,151 10/531,733 10/683,04010/510,391 10/510,392 10/919,261 10/778,090 6,957,768 09/575,16209/575,172 09/575,170 09/575,171 09/575,161 6,982,701 6,982,70310/291,538 6,786,397 6,947,027 6,975,299 10/291,714 7,048,178 10/291,5416,839,053 7,015,900 7,010,147 10/291,713 6,914,593 10/291,546 6,938,82610/913,340 10/940,668 6,992,662 11/039,897 11/074,800 11/074,78211/074,777 11/075,917 11/102,698 11/102,843 11/202,112 11/442,1146,454,482 6,808,330 6,527,365 6,474,773 6,550,997 10/181,496 6,957,92310/309,185 10/949,288 10/962,400 10/969,121 11/185,722 11/181,75411/203,180 11/124,158 11/124,196 11/124,199 11/124,162 11/124,20211/124,197 11/124,154 11/124,198 11/124,153 11/124,151 11/124,16011/124,192 11/124,175 11/124,163 11/124,149 11/124,152 11/124,17311/124,155 11/124,157 11/124,174 11/124,194 11/124,164 11/124,20011/124,195 11/124,166 11/124,150 11/124,172 11/124,165 11/124,18611/124,185 11/124,184 11/124,182 11/124,201 11/124,171 11/124,18111/124,161 11/124,156 11/124,191 11/124,159 11/124,175 11/124,18811/124,170 11/124,187 11/124,189 11/124,190 11/124,180 11/124,19311/124,183 11/124,178 11/124,177 11/124,148 11/124,168 11/124,16711/124,179 11/124,169 11/187,976 11/188,011 11/188,014 MCD062US11/228,540 11/228,500 11/228,501 11/228,530 11/228,490 11/228,53111/228,504 11/228,533 11/228,502 11/228,507 11/228,482 11/228,50511/228,497 11/228,487 11/228,529 11/228,484 11/228,489 11/228,51811/228,536 11/228,496 11/228,488 11/228,506 11/228,516 11/228,52611/228,539 11/228,538 11/228,524 11/228,523 11/228,519 11/228,52811/228,527 11/228,525 11/228,520 11/228,498 11/228,511 11/228,522111/228,515 11/228,537 11/228,534 11/228,491 11/228,499 11/228,50911/228,492 11/228,493 11/228,510 11/228,508 11/228,512 11/228,51411/228,494 11/228,495 11/228,486 11/228,481 11/228,477 11/228,48511/228,483 11/228,521 11/228,517 11/228,532 11/228,513 11/228,50311/228,480 11/228,535 11/228,478 11/228,479 6,238,115 6,386,5356,398,344 6,612,240 6,752,549 6,805,049 6,971,313 6,899,480 6,860,6646,925,935 6,966,636 7,024,995 10/636,245 6,926,455 7,056,038 6,869,1727,021,843 6,988,845 6,964,533 6,981,809 11/060,804 11/065,146 11/155,54411/203,241 11/206,805 11/281,421 11/281,422 PFA001US SBF001US SBF002USSBF003US

The disclosures of these applications and patents are incorporatedherein by reference. Some of the above applications have been identifiedby their filing docket number, which will be substituted with thecorresponding application number, once assigned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Netpage system involves the interaction between a user and acomputer network (or stand alone computer) via a pen and paper basedinterface. The ‘pen’ is an electronic stylus with a marking ornon-marking nib and an optical sensor for reading a pattern of codeddata on the paper (or other surface).

The Netpage pen is an electronic stylus with force sensing, opticalsensing and Bluetooth communication assemblies. A significant number ofelectronic components need to be housed within the pen casing togetherwith a battery large enough to provide a useful battery life. Despitethis, the overall dimensions of the pen need to be small enough for auser to manipulate it as they would a normal pen.

To sense a force applied to the nib of a Netpage pen, a force sensor canbe mounted at the axially opposite end. With the force sensor axiallyaligned with the longitudinal axis nib, the contact force on the nib canbe directly transferred to the load bearing surface of the force sensor.Force sensors, typically piezo-resistive, have a generally planarconfiguration with the load bearing member on one of the planar sides.Having the cartridge press directly onto the planar side of the forcesensor requires it to be configured perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the pen. However, it is much more convenient from a productionpoint of view to mount the force sensor directly to the printed circuitboard (PCB) of the pen. Electrically connecting the force sensorcircuitry to the rest of the electronics is far easier if the forcesensor contacts are simply placed onto the corresponding contacts on thePCB. To do this, the plane of the sensor needs to be parallel to theaxis of the pen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, this aspect provides a pen comprising:

an elongate chassis moulding; and,

a cartridge with a nib and an elongate body; wherein,

the cartridge is configured for insertion and removal from the elongatechassis moulding from a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis ofthe chassis moulding.

According to a closely related aspect, the present invention provides anink cartridge for a pen, the ink cartridge comprising:

an elongate ink reservoir; and,

a writing nib in fluid communication with the ink reservoir; wherein,

the elongate ink reservoir has an enlarged transverse cross sectionalong a portion of its length intermediate its ends.

By configuring the pen chassis and cartridge so that it can be insertedand removed from the side rather than through the ends, the capacity ofthe cartridge can be significantly increased. An enlarged sectionbetween the ends of the ink cartridge increases the capacity whileallowing the relatively thin ends to be supported at the nib mouldingand opposing end of the pen chassis. In a Netpage pen, inserting thecartridge from the side avoids the need to remove the force sensor whenreplacing the cartridge. Again, the thinner sections at each end of thecartridge allow it to engage a ball point nib supported in the nibmoulding and directly engage the force sensor at the other end, whilethe enlarged middle portion increases the ink capacity.

Optionally, the cartridge is an ink cartridge and the elongate bodyhouses an ink reservoir. Preferably, the pen is an electronic styluswith a force sensor assembly, and the cartridge is held in the stylussuch that the nib is at one end of the elongate body and the other endof the elongate body engages the force sensor assembly. In someembodiments, the force sensor assembly has a load bearing member toreceive an input force to be sensed and circuitry for converting theinput force into an output signal indicative of the input force, theload bearing member abutting the opposite end of the elongate cartridgesuch that the input force comprises the axial component of the contactforce on the nib transferred by the cartridge.

Preferably the elongate cartridge is biased against the load bearingmember. In a further preferred form, the elongate cartridge has a flangesurface proximate the nib end, and a biasing element between the flangesurface and the chassis moulding biases the elongate cartridge againstthe load bearing member. Typically, this bias is between 0.1 Newtons and0.2 Newtons (approx. 10 g-20 g).

Preferably, the circuitry is a piezoresistive bridge circuit. However,the circuitry could also be a capacitative or inductive force sensingcircuit. In another option, the circuitry may be an optical forcesensor. In a further preferred form, the load bearing member has aprotrusion with round end for engagement with the cartridge. In anotherpreferred form, the cartridge has a similar protrusion extendingcentrally from its end such that the distal end of the protrusionengages the rounded end of the protrusion from the load bearing member.In a particularly preferred form, the housing defines a recess for thecircuitry, the rounded end of the protrusion from the load bearingmember extends proud of the recess for engaging the cartridge.Preferably, a stop surface positioned around the opening to the recessengages the cartridge to limit elastic deformation of the force sensorassembly.

Typically, the force sensor assembly is configured to sense a maximumforce of 5 Newtons (approx. 500 g). Preferably, the load bearing membercan move up to 100 microns relative to the chassis.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the output signal from thecircuitry support a hand writing recognition facility.

In a second aspect the present invention provides a force sensorassembly comprising:

a load bearing member for receiving an input force;

a sensor circuit for converting the input force into a signal indicativeof the input force; and,

a force transfer coupling for receiving an applied force and at leastpartially transferring it to the load bearing member as the input force;wherein,

the applied force and the input force are not co-linear.

According to a closely related aspect, the present invention provides anelectronic stylus comprising:

an elongate body;

a nib extending from one end of the elongate body;

a load bearing member for receiving an input force;

a sensor circuit for converting the input force into a signal indicativeof the input force; and,

a force transfer coupling for receiving an applied force caused bycontact on the nib, and at least partially transferring it to the loadbearing member as the input force; wherein during use,

the applied force and the input force are not co-linear.

With the use of a force transfer coupling, the sensor circuitry and loadbearing member can remain fixed in the pen body while the ink cartridgeis removed and replace. The force transfer coupling may need to beremoved or shifted when the ink cartridge for the nib is being changed(assuming the stylus has a ball point nib) but there is less potentialfor damage to the force sensor. The deceleration shock from being bumpedor dropped in its nib can break the sensor circuitry, which necessitatesthe replacement of the entire PCB.

Preferably, the force transfer coupling is an element configured forelastic deformation in a direction skew to the applied force. In afurther preferred form, the element is a double bowed section that bowsoutwardly when axially compressed by the applied force. In aparticularly preferred form, the load bearing member engages one of thebowed sections at its mid point such that the input force isperpendicular to the applied force. Preferably, the bowed section thatdoes not contact the load bearing member is constrained against lateraldisplacement in order to stiffen the other bowed section. In someembodiments, the bowed sections have an arcuate lateral cross section toreduce contact friction with the load bearing member and the lateralconstraint. Optionally, the load bearing member a rounded protrusion forcontacting the bowed section of the force transfer coupling.

In some embodiments, the force transfer coupling is a hydraulic elementthat uses the applied force to create hydraulic pressure acting on theload bearing member. In a particularly preferred form, the hydraulicpressure acts such that the input force is perpendicular to the appliedforce. Preferably, the hydraulic fluid has low viscosity and low shearforces. In some embodiments, the hydraulic fluid is a silicon gel.Preferably the hydraulic fluid is contained in a reservoir at leastpartially defined by a flexible membrane such that the applied forceacts on the hydraulic fluid via the flexible membrane. Optionally, thehydraulic fluid acts directly on the load bearing member.

In some preferred embodiments, the circuitry is a piezoresistive bridgecircuit. Optionally, the nib of the electronic stylus is a ball pointwriting nib with a tubular ink cartridge extending from the nib towardthe load bearing member such that the end of the cartridge opposite thenib transmits the applied force to the hydraulic coupling. Preferably,the output signal from the circuitry support a hand writing recognitionfacility. Preferably the circuitry is an integrated circuit (IC) mountedon a PCB (printed circuit board), the plane of the PCB being parallel tothe longitudinal axis of the elongate body.

In some embodiments, the load bearing member can move up to 100 micronsrelative to the elongate body. Optionally, the input force is limited toa maximum of 5 Newtons. In a particularly preferred embodiment, theoutput signal from the circuitry support a hand writing recognitionfacility.

In a third aspect the present invention provides a force sensor assemblycomprising:

a housing;

a load bearing member movably mounted in the housing for receiving aninput force to be sensed, the load bearing member being biased againstthe direction of the input force;

a light source;

a photo-detector for sensing levels of illumination from the lightsource; and,

circuitry for converting a range of illumination levels sensed by thephoto-detector into a range of output signals; wherein,

the illumination level sensed by the photo-detector varies with movementof the load bearing member within the housing such that the outputsignal from the circuitry is indicative of the input force.

According to a closely related aspect, the present invention provides anelectronic stylus comprising:

an elongate body;

a nib extending from one end of the elongate body;

a load bearing member movably mounted to the elongate body for receivingan input force caused by contact on the nib, the load bearing memberbeing biased against the direction of the input force;

a light source;

a photo-detector for sensing levels of illumination from the lightsource; and,

circuitry for converting a range of illumination levels sensed by thephoto-detector into a range of output signals; wherein,

the illumination level sensed by the photo-detector varies with movementof the load bearing member within the elongate such that the outputsignal from the circuitry is indicative of the input force.

Using an optical force sensor is more robust than a piezo-resistivesensor. Installing an LED and photo-detector is less complex than thedelicate requirements of a piezo-electric crystal. The full forcedeflection on the nib is relatively small, so the tolerancing in apiezo-resistive component needs to be high enough to prevent breakage.

Preferably, the light source is fixed to the housing for illuminating atleast part of the load bearing member. Preferably, the photo-detector ismounted to the housing such that the load bearing member moves betweenthe light source and the photo-detector. In a further preferred form,the load bearing member has an aperture through which light from thelight source can illuminate the photo-detector, the aperture beingpositioned between the light source and the photo-detector at part ofthe load bearing member's travel within the housing. In a particularlypreferred form, the load bearing member is biased with a spring, thespring having a spring constant equal to the maximum force the sensor isto sense, divided by the length in the direction of travel within thehousing of the aperture. Optionally, the aperture is aligned with thelight source and the photo-detector when the input force is the maximumforce, and the load bearing member fully obscures the light source fromthe photo-detector when the input force is zero.

Conveniently, the light source is a LED. In some embodiments, the loadbearing member has a maximum travel of 100 microns within the housing.In some embodiments, the nib of the electronic stylus is a ball pointwriting nib with a tubular ink cartridge extending from the nib towardthe load bearing member such that the coupling is a detachable boot thatfits over the end of the cartridge opposite the nib.

Typically, the force sensor is configured to sense a maximum force of 5Newtons (approx. 500 g). In a particularly preferred embodiment, theoutput signal from the circuitry support a hand writing recognitionfacility.

In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a force sensorassembly comprising:

a load bearing member for receiving an input force to be sensed;

circuitry for converting the input force into an output signalindicative of the input force;

a coupling having an inner section for transmitting the input force tothe load bearing member, an outer section for receiving an appliedcontact force and a collapsible section for allowing the outer sectionto move relative to the inner section when the contact force exceeds athreshold.

According to a closely related aspect, the present invention provides anelectronic stylus comprising:

an elongate body;

a nib extending from one end of the elongate body; and,

a load bearing member mounted to the elongate body for receiving aninput force caused by contact on the nib;

circuitry for converting the input force into an output signalindicative of the input force;

a coupling having an inner section for transmitting the input force tothe load bearing member, an outer section for receiving the contactforce on the nib and a collapsible section for allowing the outersection to move relative to the inner section when the contact forceexceeds a threshold.

Inserting a collapsible section between the nib and the force sensorwill allows static and dynamic contacts loads up to a predeterminedthreshold to be transmitted to the sensor. However, any loads thatexceed the threshold, regardless of whether they are static or shockloads, will simply force the outer section of the coupling to collapsetoward the inner section. The input force at the sensor remains at orbelow the threshold.

Preferably, the collapsible section has a deformable structure. In someembodiments, the deformable structure deforms plastically when thecontact force exceeds a threshold. In one preferred embodiment, thedeformable structure is a series of struts extending between the innersection and the outer section such that the struts buckle when thecontact force exceeds their combined buckling loads. Optionally, thestruts are inclined to the direction of the contact force in order topromote buckling at a lower threshold. In other embodiments, thedeformable structure deforms elastically when the contact force exceedsa threshold. Preferably, the deformable structure has a pair of abuttingslip surfaces biased against each other by a resilient member, such thatthe slip surfaces slide relative to each other if the input forceexceeds the threshold created by friction between the slip surfaces. Ina particularly preferred form, the resilient member is an elastic sleevetightly fitted around the two components that respectively define theslip surfaces, the slip surfaces being inclined relative to thedirection of the input force.

In a particularly preferred form, the coupling is biased against theload bearing member. Typically, this bias is between 0.1 Newtons and 0.2Newtons (approx. 10 g-20 g). In some embodiments, the nib of theelectronic stylus is a ball point writing nib with a tubular inkcartridge extending from the nib toward the load bearing member suchthat the coupling is a detachable boot that fits over the end of thecartridge opposite the nib.

Typically, the force sensor is configured to sense a maximum force of 5Newtons (approx. 500 g). Preferably, the load bearing member can move upto 100 microns relative to the housing.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the output signal from thecircuitry support a hand writing recognition facility.

In a fifth aspect the present invention provides a force sensor assemblycomprising:

a housing;

a load bearing member for receiving an input force to be sensed;

circuitry for converting the input force into an output signalindicative of the input force;

a coupling for transmitting the input force to the load bearing member;and,

a compressible reservoir containing dilatant fluid mounted between thehousing and the coupling to restrict the input force to the load bearingmember caused by shock loading to the coupling.

According to a closely related aspect, the present invention provides anelectronic stylus comprising:

an elongate body;

a nib extending from one end of the elongate body; and,

a load bearing member mounted to the elongate body for receiving aninput force caused by contact on the nib;

circuitry for converting the input force into an output signalindicative of the input force;

a coupling for transmitting the input force to the load bearing member;and,

a compressible reservoir containing dilatant fluid mounted between thehousing and the coupling to restrict the input force to the load bearingmember caused by shock loading to the coupling.

A dilatant (or “shear thickening”) fluid is a non-Newtonian fluid whoseviscosity increases with rate of shear. At a low shear rate theparticles are able to slide past each other and the fluid behaves as aliquid. Above a critical shear rate friction between the particlespredominates and the fluid behaves as a solid.

To prevent force sensor damage from an impulse (shock loading), anadditional stop containing a dilatant fluid can be inserted between theelement that couples the nib to the force sensor. The dilatant fluid canbe contained in a sack formed from a flexible membrane. During normaloperation of the pen the dilatant fluid sack acts as a liquid anddeforms in response to movement of the cartridge, allowing normal forcesto be transmitted from the cartridge to the force sensor. When adamaging impulse occurs, the dilatant fluid effectively hardens inresponse to the high shear rate, preventing movement of the cartridgeand thereby protecting the force sensor.

Preferably, the compressible reservoir of dilatant fluid maintains a gapbetween the load bearing member and the coupling when the input force isnot applied, and the compressible reservoir compresses to allow thecoupling to directly engage the load bearing member with a steadyapplication of the input force. In a further preferred form, thecompressible reservoir is secured to the housing and the coupling, andthe coupling is biased away from the housing to maintain the gap betweenthe coupling and load bearing member when the input force is notapplied. Preferably, the circuitry is a piezoresistive bridge circuit.However, the circuitry could also be a capacitative or inductive forcesensing circuit. In another option, the circuitry may be an opticalforce sensor. In a further preferred form, the load bearing member has aprotrusion with round end for engagement with the coupling. In anotherpreferred form, the coupling has a similar protrusion extendingcentrally from a flange such that the distal end of the protrusionengages the rounded end of the protrusion from the load bearing member,and the compressible reservoir of dilatant fluid is positioned betweenthe housing and the flange. In a particularly preferred form, thehousing defines a recess for the circuitry, the rounded end of theprotrusion from the load bearing member extends proud of the recess forengaging the coupling. Preferably, the compressible reservoir has anannular shape and is positioned around the opening to the recess andaround the central protrusion from the flange of the coupling.

In a particularly preferred form, the coupling is biased against theload bearing member. Typically, this bias is between 0.1 Newtons and 0.2Newtons (approx. 10 g-20 g). In some embodiments, the nib of theelectronic stylus is a ball point writing nib with a tubular inkcartridge extending from the nib toward the load bearing member suchthat the coupling is a detachable boot that fits over the end of thecartridge opposite the nib.

Typically, the force sensor is configured to sense a maximum force of 5Newtons (approx. 500 g). Preferably, the load bearing member can move upto 100 microns relative to the housing.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the output signal from thecircuitry support a hand writing recognition facility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of exampleonly with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a complete tag;

FIG. 2 shows a symbol unit cell;

FIG. 3 shows nine symbol unit cells;

FIG. 4 shows the bit ordering in a symbol;

FIG. 5 shows a tag with all bits set;

FIG. 6 shows a tag group made up of four tag types;

FIG. 7 shows the continuous tiling of tag groups;

FIG. 8 shows the interleaving of codewords A, B, C & D within a tag;

FIG. 9 shows a codeword layout;

FIG. 10 shows a tag and its eight immediate neighbours labelled with itscorresponding bit index;

FIG. 11 shows a nib and elevation of the pen held by a user;

FIG. 12 shows the pen held by a user at a typical incline to a writingsurface;

FIG. 13 is a lateral cross section through the pen;

FIG. 14A is a bottom and nib end partial perspective of the pen;

FIG. 14B is a bottom and nib end partial perspective with the fields ofillumination and field of view of the sensor window shown in dottedoutline;

FIG. 15 is a partial perspective of the USB cable and USB socket in thetop end of the pen;

FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective of the pen components;

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal cross section of the pen;

FIG. 18 is a partial longitudinal cross section of the cap placed overthe nib end of the pen;

FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective of the optics assembly;

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective of the force sensor assembly;

FIG. 21 is an exploded perspective of the ink cartridge tube and nibengaging removal tool;

FIG. 22 is a partially sectioned perspective of a new ink cartridgeengaging the nib end of the currently installed ink cartridge;

FIG. 23 is a partial perspective of the packaged force sensor on themain PCB;

FIG. 24 is a longitudinal cross section of the force sensor and main PCBshown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective of the cap assembly;

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram of the pen USB and power CCT's;

FIG. 27A is a partial longitudinal cross section of the nib and barrelmolding;

FIG. 27B is a partial longitudinal cross section of the IR LED's and thebarrel molding;

FIG. 28 is a ray trace of the pen optics adjacent a sketch of the inkcartridge;

FIG. 29 is a side elevation of the lens;

FIG. 30 is a side elevation of the nib and the field of view of theoptical sensor;

FIG. 31 is an exploded perspective of the pad;

FIG. 32 is a longitudinal cross section of the pad with the peninserted;

FIG. 33 is a schematic representation of the force sensor assembly;

FIG. 34 is a schematic representation of a top-loading ink cartridge andforce sensor;

FIG. 35 is a schematic representation of a top loading ink cartridgeinto a pen with a retaining cavity for the pre-load spring;

FIG. 36 is a schematic representation of a double-bow right-angle forcesensor coupling;

FIG. 37A is a schematic representation of a hydraulic force sensorcoupling;

FIG. 37B is a longitudinal section of the hydraulic force sensorcoupling shown in FIG. 37A;

FIG. 38 is schematic representation of an alternative configuration ofthe hydraulic force sensor coupling;

FIG. 39A is a more detailed sketch of the hydraulic coupling between thecartridge and the force sensor;

FIG. 39B is a section view taken along line 39-39 of FIG. 39A;

FIG. 40 is a schematic section view of the input force acting on theplunger and the detail of the force sensor mounting;

FIG. 41 is a schematic section view of an alternative force sensormounting without the input ball bearing;

FIG. 42 is a schematic section view of the force sensor chip deflectionprofile;

FIG. 43 is a schematic section view of the pressure sensor chipdeflection profile;

FIG. 44 is a schematic section view of the force sensor using pressuresensor chip and hydraulic coupling;

FIG. 45 is a plot of sensed force versus time for an input impulse (tap)to the cartridge;

FIGS. 46A to 46C are schematic section views of input mechanisms for thehydraulic coupling;

FIGS. 47A to 47C are schematic section views of input mechanisms using awelded membrane;

FIG. 48 is schematic section view of the force sensor with a stopsurface directly referenced to the back surface of the sensor chip;

FIG. 49 is a more detailed section view of the force sensor with itsstop surface directly referenced to the back surface of the sensor chip;

FIG. 50 is schematic section view of a stop surface arrangement for theforce input mechanism of the hydraulic coupling;

FIG. 51 is pen cartridge with collapsible element in an un-collapsedstate;

FIG. 52 is pen cartridge with collapsible element in a collapsed state;

FIG. 53 is a stick friction collapsible element in un-collapsed state;

FIG. 54 is a stick friction collapsible element in collapsed state;

FIG. 55 is a sectioned perspective view of a stick friction collapsibleelement in an un-collapsed state;

FIG. 56A is a plan view of an optical force sensor;

FIG. 56B is an elevation of an optical force sensor;

FIG. 57 is a high-level block diagram of the operation of the opticalforce sensor;

FIG. 58 is a schematic section of a dilatant fluid o-ring to preventimpulse damage to force sensor;

FIG. 59 is a schematic section showing boot or cartridge with protrusionto accommodate thicker O-ring;

FIG. 60 is a block diagram of the pen electronics;

FIG. 61 show the charging and connection options for the pen and thepod;

FIGS. 62A to 62E show the various components of the packaged forcesensor;

FIG. 63 is a bottom perspective of the main PCB with the Bluetoothantenna shield removed;

FIG. 64 is a top perspective of the main PCB;

FIG. 65 is a bottom perspective of the chassis molding and elastomericand cap;

FIG. 66A is a perspective of the optics assembly lifted from the chassismolding;

FIG. 66B is an enlarged partial perspective of the optics assemblyseated in the chassis molding;

FIG. 67A is a bottom perspective of the force sensor assembly partiallyinstalled in the chassis molding;

FIG. 67B is a bottom perspective of the force sensing assembly installedin the chassis molding;

FIG. 68 is a bottom perspective of the battery and main PCB partiallyinstalled in the chassis molding;

FIG. 69 is a bottom perspective of the chassis molding with the basemolding lifted clear;

FIGS. 70A and 70B are enlarged partial perspectives showing the coldstake on the chassis molding being swaged and sealed to the basemolding;

FIG. 71 is a bottom perspective of the product label being fixed to thebase molding;

FIG. 72 is an enlarged partial perspective of the nib molding beinginserted on the chassis molding;

FIG. 73 is a perspective of the tube molding being inserted over thechassis molding;

FIG. 74 is a perspective of the cap assembly being placed on the nibmolding;

FIG. 75 is a diagram of the major power states of the pen; and,

FIG. 76 is a diagram of the operational states of the Bluetooth module.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, the invention is well suited for incorporation inthe Assignee's Netpage system. In light of this, the invention has beendescribed as a component of a broader Netpage architecture. However, itwill be readily appreciated that electronic styli have much broaderapplication in many different fields. Accordingly, the present inventionis not restricted to a Netpage context.

Netpage Surface Coding Introduction

This section defines a surface coding used by the Netpage system(described in co-pending application Ser. No. 11/193,479 as well as manyof the other cross referenced documents listed above) to imbue otherwisepassive surfaces with interactivity in conjunction with Netpage sensingdevices (described below).

When interacting with a Netpage coded surface, a Netpage sensing devicegenerates a digital ink stream which indicates both the identity of thesurface region relative to which the sensing device is moving, and theabsolute path of the sensing device within the region.

Surface Coding

The Netpage surface coding consists of a dense planar tiling of tags.Each tag encodes its own location in the plane. Each tag also encodes,in conjunction with adjacent tags, an identifier of the regioncontaining the tag. In the Netpage system, the region typicallycorresponds to the entire extent of the tagged surface, such as one sideof a sheet of paper.

Each tag is represented by a pattern which contains two kinds ofelements. The first kind of element is a target. Targets allow a tag tobe located in an image of a coded surface, and allow the perspectivedistortion of the tag to be inferred. The second kind of element is amacrodot. Each macrodot encodes the value of a bit by its presence orabsence.

The pattern is represented on the coded surface in such a way as toallow it to be acquired by an optical imaging system, and in particularby an optical system with a narrowband response in the near-infrared.The pattern is typically printed onto the surface using a narrowbandnear-infrared ink.

Tag Structure

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a complete tag 200. Each of the four blackcircles 202 is a target. The tag 200, and the overall pattern, hasfour-fold rotational symmetry at the physical level.

Each square region represents a symbol 204, and each symbol representsfour bits of information. Each symbol 204 shown in the tag structure hasa unique label 216. Each label 216 has an alphabetic prefix and anumeric suffix. FIG. 2 shows the structure of a symbol 204. It containsfour macrodots 206, each of which represents the value of one bit by itspresence (one) or absence (zero).

The macrodot 206 spacing is specified by the parameter s throughout thisspecification. It has a nominal value of 143 μm, based on 9 dots printedat a pitch of 1600 dots per inch. However, it is allowed to vary withindefined bounds according to the capabilities of the device used toproduce the pattern.

FIG. 3 shows an array 208 of nine adjacent symbols 204. The macrodot 206spacing is uniform both within and between symbols 208.

FIG. 4 shows the ordering of the bits within a symbol 204.

Bit zero 210 is the least significant within a symbol 204; bit three 212is the most significant. Note that this ordering is relative to theorientation of the symbol 204. The orientation of a particular symbol204 within the tag 200 is indicated by the orientation of the label 216of the symbol in the tag diagrams (see for example FIG. 1). In general,the orientation of all symbols 204 within a particular segment of thetag 200 is the same, consistent with the bottom of the symbol beingclosest to the centre of the tag.

Only the macrodots 206 are part of the representation of a symbol 204 inthe pattern. The square outline 214 of a symbol 204 is used in thisspecification to more clearly elucidate the structure of a tag 204. FIG.5, by way of illustration, shows the actual pattern of a tag 200 withevery bit 206 set. Note that, in practice, every bit 206 of a tag 200can never be set.

A macrodot 206 is nominally circular with a nominal diameter of ( 5/9)s.However, it is allowed to vary in size by ±10% according to thecapabilities of the device used to produce the pattern.

A target 202 is nominally circular with a nominal diameter of ( 17/9)s.However, it is allowed to vary in size by ±10% according to thecapabilities of the device used to produce the pattern.

The tag pattern is allowed to vary in scale by up to ±10% according tothe capabilities of the device used to produce the pattern. Anydeviation from the nominal scale is recorded in the tag data to allowaccurate generation of position samples.

Tag Groups

Tags 200 are arranged into tag groups 218. Each tag group contains fourtags arranged in a square. Each tag 200 has one of four possible tagtypes, each of which is labelled according to its location within thetag group 218. The tag type labels 220 are 00, 10, 01 and 11, as shownin FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows how tag groups are repeated in a continuous tiling of tags,or tag pattern 222. The tiling guarantees the any set of four adjacenttags 200 contains one tag of each type 220.

Codewords

The tag contains four complete codewords. The layout of the fourcodewords is shown in FIG. 8. Each codeword is of a punctured 2⁴-ary (8,5) Reed-Solomon code. The codewords are labelled A, B, C and D.Fragments of each codeword are distributed throughout the tag 200.

Two of the codewords are unique to the tag 200. These are referred to aslocal codewords 224 and are labelled A and B. The tag 200 thereforeencodes up to 40 bits of information unique to the tag.

The remaining two codewords are unique to a tag type, but common to alltags of the same type within a contiguous tiling of tags 222. These arereferred to as global codewords 226 and are labelled C and D,subscripted by tag type. A tag group 218 therefore encodes up to 160bits of information common to all tag groups within a contiguous tilingof tags.

Reed-Solomon Encoding

Codewords are encoded using a punctured 2⁴-ary (8, 5) Reed-Solomon code.A 2⁴-ary (8, 5) Reed-Solomon code encodes 20 data bits (i.e. five 4-bitsymbols) and 12 redundancy bits (i.e. three 4-bit symbols) in eachcodeword. Its error-detecting capacity is three symbols. Itserror-correcting capacity is one symbol.

FIG. 9 shows a codeword 228 of eight symbols 204, with five symbolsencoding data coordinates 230 and three symbols encoding redundancycoordinates 232. The codeword coordinates are indexed in coefficientorder, and the data bit ordering follows the codeword bit ordering.

A punctured 2⁴-ary (8, 5) Reed-Solomon code is a 2⁴-ary (15, 5)Reed-Solomon code with seven redundancy coordinates removed. The removedcoordinates are the most significant redundancy coordinates.

The code has the following primitive polynomial:p(x)=x ⁴ +x+1  (EQ 1)

The code has the following generator polynomial:g(x)=(x+α)(x+α ²) . . . (x+α ¹⁰)  (EQ 2)

For a detailed description of Reed-Solomon codes, refer to Wicker, S. B.and V. K. Bhargava, eds., Reed-Solomon Codes and Their Applications,IEEE Press, 1994, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

The Tag Coordinate Space

The tag coordinate space has two orthogonal axes labelled x and yrespectively. When the positive x axis points to the right, then thepositive y axis points down.

The surface coding does not specify the location of the tag coordinatespace origin on a particular tagged surface, nor the orientation of thetag coordinate space with respect to the surface. This information isapplication-specific. For example, if the tagged surface is a sheet ofpaper, then the application which prints the tags onto the paper mayrecord the actual offset and orientation, and these can be used tonormalise any digital ink subsequently captured in conjunction with thesurface.

The position encoded in a tag is defined in units of tags. Byconvention, the position is taken to be the position of the centre ofthe target closest to the origin.

Tag Information Content

Table 1 defines the information fields embedded in the surface coding.Table 2 defines how these fields map to codewords.

TABLE 1 Field definitions field width description per codeword codewordtype 2 The type of the codeword, i.e. one of A (b′00′), B (b′01′), C(b′10′) and D (b′11′). per tag tag type 2 The type¹ of the tag, i.e. oneof 00 (b′00′), 01 (b′01′), 10 (b′10′) and 11 (b′11′). x coordinate 13The unsigned x coordinate of the tag². y coordinate 13 The unsigned ycoordinate of the tag^(b). active area flag 1 A flag indicating whetherthe tag is a member of an active area. b′1′ indicates membership. activearea map 1 A flag indicating whether an active area map flag is present.b′1′ indicates the presence of a map (see next field). If the map isabsent then the value of each map entry is derived from the active areaflag (see previous field). active area map 8 A map³ of which of thetag's immediate eight neighbours are members of an active area. b′1′indicates membership. data fragment 8 A fragment of an embedded datastream. Only present if the active area map is absent. per tag groupencoding format 8 The format of the encoding. 0: the present encodingOther values are TBA. region flags 8 Flags controlling theinterpretation and routing of region-related information. 0: region IDis an EPC 1: region is linked 2: region is interactive 3: region issigned 4: region includes data 5: region relates to mobile applicationOther bits are reserved and must be zero. tag size 16 The differencebetween the actual tag size adjustment and the nominal tag size⁴, in 10nm units, in sign-magnitude format. region ID 96 The ID of the regioncontaining the tags. CRC 16 A CRC⁵ of tag group data. total 320¹corresponds to the bottom two bits of the x and y coordinates of thetag ²allows a maximum coordinate value of approximately 14 m ³FIG. 29indicates the bit ordering of the map ⁴the nominal tag size is 1.7145 mm(based on 1600 dpi, 9 dots per macrodot, and 12 macrodots per tag)⁵CCITT CRC-16 [7]

FIG. 10 shows a tag 200 and its eight immediate neighbours, eachlabelled with its corresponding bit index in the active area map. Anactive area map indicates whether the corresponding tags are members ofan active area. An active area is an area within which any capturedinput should be immediately forwarded to the corresponding Netpageserver for interpretation. It also allows the Netpage sensing device tosignal to the user that the input will have an immediate effect.

TABLE 2 Mapping of fields to codewords codeword field codeword bitsfield width bits A 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′00′) 10:2  x coordinate 912:4  19:11 y coordinate 9 12:4  B 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′01′) 2 tagtype 1 0 5:2 x coordinate 4 3:0 6 tag type 1 1 9:6 y coordinate 4 3:010  active area flag 1 all 11  active area map flag 1 all 19:12 activearea map 8 all 19:12 data fragment 8 all C₀₀ 1:0 codeword type 2 all(b′10′) 9:2 encoding format 8 all 17:10 region flags 8 all 19:18 tagsize adjustment 2 1:0 C₀₁ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′10′) 15:2  tag sizeadjustment 14 15:2  19:16 region ID 4 3:0 C₁₀ 1:0 codeword type 2 all(b′10′) 19:2  region ID 18 21:4  C₁₁ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′10′)19:2  region ID 18 39:22 D₀₀ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′11′) 19:2 region ID 18 57:40 D₀₁ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′11′) 19:2  region ID18 75:58 D₁₀ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′11′) 19:2  region ID 18 93:76D₁₁ 1:0 codeword type 2 all (b′11′) 3:2 region ID 2 95:94 19:4  CRC 16all

Note that the tag type can be moved into a global codeword to maximiselocal codeword utilization. This in turn can allow larger coordinatesand/or 16-bit data fragments (potentially configurably in conjunctionwith coordinate precision). However, this reduces the independence ofposition decoding from region ID decoding and has not been included inthe specification at this time.

Embedded Data

If the “region includes data” flag in the region flags is set then thesurface coding contains embedded data. The data is encoded in multiplecontiguous tags' data fragments, and is replicated in the surface codingas many times as it will fit.

The embedded data is encoded in such a way that a random and partialscan of the surface coding containing the embedded data can besufficient to retrieve the entire data. The scanning system reassemblesthe data from retrieved fragments, and reports to the user whensufficient fragments have been retrieved without error.

As shown in Table 3, a 200-bit data block encodes 160 bits of data. Theblock data is encoded in the data fragments of A contiguous group of 25tags arranged in a 5×5 square. A tag belongs to a block whose integercoordinate is the tag's coordinate divided by 5. Within each block thedata is arranged into tags with increasing x coordinate withinincreasing y coordinate.

A data fragment may be missing from a block where an active area map ispresent. However, the missing data fragment is likely to be recoverablefrom another copy of the block.

Data of arbitrary size is encoded into a superblock consisting of acontiguous set of blocks arranged in a rectangle. The size of thesuperblock is encoded in each block. A block belongs to a superblockwhose integer coordinate is the block's coordinate divided by thesuperblock size. Within each superblock the data is arranged into blockswith increasing x coordinate within increasing y coordinate.

The superblock is replicated in the surface coding as many times as itwill fit, including partially along the edges of the surface coding.

The data encoded in the superblock may include more precise typeinformation, more precise size information, and more extensive errordetection and/or correction data.

TABLE 3 Embedded data block field width description data type 8 The typeof the data in the superblock. Values include: 0: type is controlled byregion flags 1: MIME Other values are TBA. superblock width 8 The widthof the superblock, in blocks. superblock height 8 The height of thesuperblock, in blocks. data 160 The block data. CRC 16 A CRC⁶ of theblock data. total 200 ⁶CCITT CRC-16 [7]Cryptographic Signature of Region ID

If the “region is signed” flag in the region flags is set then thesurface coding contains a 160-bit cryptographic signature of the regionID. The signature is encoded in a one-block superblock.

In an online environment any signature fragment can be used, inconjunction with the region ID, to validate the signature. In an offlineenvironment the entire signature can be recovered by reading multipletags, and can then be validated using the corresponding public signaturekey. This is discussed in more detail in Netpage Surface Coding Securitysection of the cross reference co-pending application Ser. No.11/193,479, which is entirely incorporated into the application withSer. No. 11/193,481.

MIME Data

If the embedded data type is “MIME” then the superblock containsMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) data according to RFC 2045(see Freed, N., and N. Borenstein, “Multipurpose Internet MailExtensions (MIME)—Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies”, RFC2045, November 1996), RFC 2046 (see Freed, N., and N. Borenstein,“Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)—Part Two: Media Types”,RFC 2046, November 1996) and related RFCs. The MIME data consists of aheader followed by a body. The header is encoded as a variable-lengthtext string preceded by an 8-bit string length. The body is encoded as avariable-length type-specific octet stream preceded by a 16-bit size inbig-endian format.

The basic top-level media types described in RFC 2046 include text,image, audio, video and application.

RFC 2425 (see Howes, T., M. Smith and F. Dawson, “A MIME Content-Typefor Directory Information”, RFC 2045, September 1998) and RFC 2426 (seeDawson, F., and T. Howes, “vCard MIME Directory Profile”, RFC 2046,September 1998) describe a text subtype for directory informationsuitable, for example, for encoding contact information which mightappear on a business card.

Encoding and Printing Considerations

The Print Engine Controller (PEC) supports the encoding of two fixed(per-page) 2⁴-ary (15, 5) Reed-Solomon codewords and six variable(per-tag) 2⁴-ary (15, 5) Reed-Solomon codewords. Furthermore, PECsupports the rendering of tags via a rectangular unit cell whose layoutis constant (per page) but whose variable codeword data may vary fromone unit cell to the next. PEC does not allow unit cells to overlap inthe direction of page movement. A unit cell compatible with PEC containsa single tag group consisting of four tags. The tag group contains asingle A codeword unique to the tag group but replicated four timeswithin the tag group, and four unique B codewords. These can be encodedusing five of PEC's six supported variable codewords. The tag group alsocontains eight fixed C and D codewords. One of these can be encodedusing the remaining one of PEC's variable codewords, two more can beencoded using PEC's two fixed codewords, and the remaining five can beencoded and pre-rendered into the Tag Format Structure (TFS) supplied toPEC.

PEC imposes a limit of 32 unique bit addresses per TFS row. The contentsof the unit cell respect this limit. PEC also imposes a limit of 384 onthe width of the TFS. The contents of the unit cell respect this limit.

Note that for a reasonable page size, the number of variable coordinatebits in the A codeword is modest, making encoding via a lookup tabletractable. Encoding of the B codeword via a lookup table may also bepossible. Note that since a Reed-Solomon code is systematic, only theredundancy data needs to appear in the lookup table.

Imaging and Decoding Considerations

The minimum imaging field of view required to guarantee acquisition ofan entire tag has a diameter of 39.6 s (i.e. (2×(12+2))√{square rootover (2)}s), allowing for arbitrary alignment between the surface codingand the field of view. Given a macrodot spacing of 143 μm, this gives arequired field of view of 5.7 mm.

Table 4 gives pitch ranges achievable for the present surface coding fordifferent sampling rates, assuming an image sensor size of 128 pixels.

TABLE 4 Pitch ranges achievable for present surface coding for differentsampling rates; dot pitch = 1600 dpi, macrodot pitch = 9 dots, viewingdistance = 30 mm, nib-to-FOV separation = 1 mm, image sensor size = 128pixels sampling rate pitch range 2 −40 to +49 2.5 −27 to +36 3 −10 to+18

Given the present surface coding, the corresponding decoding sequence isas follows:

-   -   locate targets of complete tag    -   infer perspective transform from targets    -   sample and decode any one of tag's four codewords    -   determine codeword type and hence tag orientation    -   sample and decode required local (A and B) codewords    -   codeword redundancy is only 12 bits, so only detect errors    -   on decode error flag bad position sample    -   determine tag x-y location, with reference to tag orientation    -   infer 3D tag transform from oriented targets    -   determine nib x-y location from tag x-y location and 3D        transform    -   determine active area status of nib location with reference to        active area map    -   generate local feedback based on nib active area status    -   determine tag type from A codeword    -   sample and decode required global (C and D) codewords (modulo        window alignment, with reference to tag type)    -   although codeword redundancy is only 12 bits, correct errors;        subsequent CRC verification will detect erroneous error        correction    -   verify tag group data CRC    -   on decode error flag bad region ID sample    -   determine encoding type, and reject unknown encoding    -   determine region flags    -   determine region ID    -   encode region ID, nib x-y location, nib active area status in        digital ink    -   route digital ink based on region flags

Note that region ID decoding need not occur at the same rate as positiondecoding.

Note that decoding of a codeword can be avoided if the codeword is foundto be identical to an already-known good codeword.

Netpage Pen

Functional Overview

The Netpage pen is a motion-sensing writing instrument which works inconjunction with a tagged Netpage surface (see Netpage Surface Codingand Netpage Surface Coding Security sections above). The penincorporates a conventional ballpoint pen cartridge for marking thesurface, a motion sensor for simultaneously capturing the absolute pathof the pen on the surface, an identity sensor for simultaneouslyidentifying the surface, a force sensor for simultaneously measuring theforce exerted on the nib, and a real-time clock for simultaneouslymeasuring the passage of time.

While in contact with a tagged surface, as indicated by the forcesensor, the pen continuously images the surface region adjacent to thenib, and decodes the nearest tag in its field of view to determine boththe identity of the surface, its own instantaneous position on thesurface and the pose of the pen. The pen thus generates a stream oftimestamped position samples relative to a particular surface, andtransmits this stream to a Netpage server (see Netpage Architecturesection in co-pending application Ser. No. 11/193,479. The sample streamdescribes a series of strokes, and is conventionally referred to asdigital ink (DInk). Each stroke is delimited by a pen down and a pen upevent, as detected by the force sensor.

The pen samples its position at a sufficiently high rate (nominally 100Hz) to allow a Netpage server to accurately reproduce hand-drawnstrokes, recognise handwritten text, and verify hand-written signatures.

The Netpage pen also supports hover mode in interactive applications. Inhover mode the pen is not in contact with the paper and may be somesmall distance above the surface of the paper (or tablet etc.). Thisallows the position of the pen, including its height and pose to bereported. In the case of an interactive application the hover modebehaviour can be used to move the cursor without marking the paper, orthe distance of the nib from the coded surface could be used for toolbehaviour control, for example an air brush function.

The pen includes a Bluetooth radio transceiver for transmitting digitalink via a relay device to a Netpage server. When operating offline froma Netpage server the pen buffers captured digital ink in non-volatilememory. When operating online to a Netpage server the pen transmitsdigital ink in real time.

The pen is supplied with a docking cradle or “pod”. The pod contains aBluetooth to USB relay. The pod is connected via a USB cable to acomputer which provides communications support for local applicationsand access to Netpage services.

The pen is powered by a rechargeable battery. The battery is notaccessible to or replaceable by the user. Power to charge the pen can betaken from the USB connection or from an external power adapter throughthe pod. The pen also has a power and USB-compatible data socket toallow it to be externally connected and powered while in use. The pencap serves the dual purpose of protecting the nib and the imaging opticswhen the cap is fitted and signalling the pen to leave apower-preserving state when uncapped.

Pen Form Factor

The overall weight (45 g), size and shape (159 mm×17 mm) of the Netpagepen fall within the conventional bounds of hand-held writinginstruments.

Ergonomics and Layout

FIG. 11 shows a rounded triangular profile gives the pen 400 anergonomically comfortable shape to grip and use the pen in the correctfunctional orientation. It is also a practical shape for accommodatingthe internal components. A normal pen-like grip naturally conforms to atriangular shape between thumb 402, index finger 404 and middle finger406.

As shown in FIG. 12, a typical user writes with the pen 400 at a nominalpitch of about 30 degrees from the normal toward the hand 408 when held(positive angle) but seldom operates a pen at more than about 10 degreesof negative pitch (away from the hand). The range of pitch angles overwhich the pen 400 is able to image the pattern on the paper has beenoptimised for this asymmetric usage. The shape of the pen 400 helps toorient the pen correctly in the user's hand 408 and to discourage theuser from using the pen “upside-down”. The pen functions “upside-down”but the allowable tilt angle range is reduced.

The cap 410 is designed to fit over the top end of the pen 400, allowingit to be securely stowed while the pen is in use. Multi colour LEDsilluminate a status window 412 in the top edge (as in the apex of therounded triangular cross section) of the pen 400 near its top end. Thestatus window 412 remains un-obscured when the cap is stowed. Avibration motor is also included in the pen as a haptic feedback system(described in detail below).

As shown in FIG. 13, the grip portion of the pen has a hollow chassismolding 416 enclosed by a base molding 528 to house the othercomponents. The ink cartridge 414 for the ball point nib (not shown)fits naturally into the apex 420 of the triangular cross section,placing it consistently with the user's grip. This in turn providesspace for the main PCB 422 in the centre of the pen and for the battery424 in the base of the pen. By referring to FIG. 14 a, it can be seenthat this also naturally places the tag-sensing optics 426 unobtrusivelybelow the nib 418 (with respect to nominal pitch). The nib molding 428of the pen 400 is swept back below the ink cartridge 414 to preventcontact between the nib molding 428 and the paper surface when the penis operated at maximum pitch.

As best shown in FIG. 14 b, the imaging field of view 430 emergesthrough a centrally positioned IR filter/window 432 below the nib 418,and two near-infrared illumination LEDs 434, 436 emerge from the twobottom corners of the nib molding 428. The use of two illumination LEDs434, 436 ensures a more uniform illumination field 438, 440.

As the pen is hand-held, it may be held at an angle that causesreflections from one of the LED's that are detrimental to the imagesensor. By providing more than one LED, the LED causing the offendingreflections can be extinguished.

Pen Feedback Indications

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal cross section through the centre-line if thepen 400 (with the cap 410 stowed on the end of the pen). The penincorporates red and green LEDs 444 to indicate several states, usingcolours and intensity modulation. A light pipe 448 on the LEDs 444transmit the signal to the status indicator window 412 in the tubemolding 416. These signal status information to the user includingpower-on, battery level, untransmitted digital ink, network connectionon-line, fault or error with an action.

A vibration motor 446 is used to haptically convey information to theuser for important verification functions during transactions. Thissystem is used for important interactive indications that might bemissed due to inattention to the LED indicators 444 or high levels ofambient light. The haptic system indicates to the user when:

-   -   The pen wakes from standby mode    -   There is an error with an action    -   To acknowledge a transaction        Pod Feedback Indications

Turning briefly to the recharging pod 450 shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, redand green LEDs 452 to indicate various states using colours andintensity modulation. The light from the LEDs is transmitted to theexterior of the pod via the polymer light pipe molding 454. These signalstatus information to the user including charging state, anduntransmitted digital ink by illuminating/pulsating one LEDs 452 at atime.

Features and Accessories

As shown in FIG. 15, the pen has a power and data socket 458 is locatedin the top end 456 of the pen, hidden and moisture-sealed behind anelastomeric end-cap 460. The end-cap can be prised open to give accessto the socket 458 and reset switch (at the bottom of recess 464) andremains open while the cable 462 is in use. The USB power and data cable462 allows the pen to be used for periods that exceed the battery life.

The usual method of charging the pen 400 is via the charging pod 450shown in FIGS. 31 and 32. As will be described in greater detail below,the pod 450 includes a Bluetooth transceiver connected by USB to acomputer and several LEDs to indicate for charging status. The pod iscompact to minimise its desktop footprint, and has a weighted base forstability. Data transfer occurs between the pen and the pod via aBluetooth radio link.

Market Differentiation

Digital mobile products and quality pens are usually considered aspersonal items. This pen product is used by both genders from 5 yearsupwards for personal, educational and business use, so many markets haveto be catered for.

The pen design allows for substantial user customisation of the externalappearance of the pen 400 and the pod 450 by having user changeableparts, namely the cap 410, an outer tube molding 466 (best shown inFIGS. 16 and 49) and the pod jacket 468 (best shown in FIGS. 31 and 32).These parts are aquagraphic printed (a water based transfer system) toproduce a variety of high quality graphic images and textures over allsurfaces of these parts. These parts are accessories to the pen,allowing the user to change the appearance whenever they wish. A numberof licensed images provide enhancers for the sale of accessories as anadditional business model, similar to the practice with mobile phonecovers.

Pen Mechanical Design

Parts and Assemblies

Referring to FIG. 16, the pen 400 has been designed as a high volumeproduct and has four major sub-assemblies:

-   -   an optical assembly 470;    -   a force sensing assembly 474;    -   a cap assembly 472; and,    -   the main assembly 476, which holds the main PCB 422 and battery        424.

Wherever possible, moldings have been designed as line-of-draw to reducecost and promote longevity in the tooling.

These assemblies and the other major parts can be identified in FIG. 17.As the form factor of the pen is to be as small as possible these partsare packed as closely as practical. The electrical components in theupper part of the pen, namely the force sensor assembly 474 and thevibration motor 446 all have sprung contacts (512 of FIGS. 24 and 480 ofFIG. 62A respectively) directly mating with contact pads 482 and 484respectively (see FIG. 64) on the PCB 422. This eliminates the need forconnectors and also decouples these parts from putting any stress ontothe main PCB.

Although certain individual molded parts are thin walled (0.8 to 1.2 mm)the combination of these moldings creates a strong structure. The pen isdesigned not to be user serviceable and therefore has a cold stake underthe exterior label to prevent user entry. Non-conducting plasticsmoldings are used wherever possible to allow an omnidirectional beampattern to be formed by the Bluetooth radio antenna 486 (see FIG. 64).

Optics Assembly

The major components of the optical assembly are as shown in FIGS. 18and 19. The axial alignment of the lens 488 to the image sensor 490 istoleranced to be better than 50 μm to minimise blur at the image. Thebarrel molding 492 is therefore has high precision with tighttolerancing. It has a molded-in aperture 494 near the image sensor 490,which provides the location for the lens 488. As the effect of thermalexpansion is very small on a molding this size, it is not necessary touse a more expensive material.

The flex PCB 496 mounts two infrared LEDs 434 and 436, a wire bondedChip-on-Flex image sensor 490 and some chip capacitors 502. The flex PCB496 is 75 micron thick polyimide, which allows the two infrared LEDs 434and 436 to be manipulated. Stiffeners are required in certain areas onthe flex as backing for the attached components. The flex PCB 496 islaser cut to provide accuracy for mounting onto the barrel molding 492and fine pitch connector alignment.

Force Sensing Assembly and Ink Cartridge

FIGS. 20, 23, 24 and 64 show the components and installation of theforce sensing assembly. The force sensing assembly 474 is designed toaccurately measure force put on the ink cartridge 414 during use. It isspecified to sense between 0 and 500 grams force with enough fidelity tosupport handwriting recognition in the Netpage services. This captiveassembly has two coaxial conductive metal tubes 498, a retainer spring504 and a packaged force sensor 500.

Conductive Metal Tube

The conductive metal tubes 498 has an insert molded insulation layer 506between two metal tubes (inner tube 508 and outer tube 510), which eachhave a sprung gold plated contact finger (512 and 514 respectively).Power for charging the battery is provided by two contacts 516 (see FIG.31) in the charging pod 450 and is conducted by these two tubes directlyto recharging contacts 518 and 520 (see FIG. 64) on the main PCB 422,via a spring contact (512 and 514 respectively) on each tube.

When the pen cap assembly 472 is placed on the front of the pen 400, aconductive elastomeric molding in the pen cap mates with the ends ofboth concentric tubes in the conductive metal tube part, completing thecircuit and signalling the cap presence to the pen electronics (see FIG.18).

Force Sensor Operating Principles

FIG. 33 schematically illustrates the operation of the force sensingassembly 474. The spring 700 applies a pre-load to the force sensor IC526 (via a ball bearing 524) before the cartridge 414 is subject to anyforce at the nib 418. The cartridge 414 itself is not pushed against theforce sensor as it passes through the spring. Instead, the spring pushesa boot 702 against the force sensor, and the boot is coupled to the endof the cartridge. The boot 702 is a compromise between allowing easymanual insertion and removal of cartridge 414, and ensuring thecartridge is held securely without travel. The use of a boot 702 alsoallows the inclusion of a stop surface 698. The stop limits the travelof the boot 702 thereby protecting the spring 700 from overload.

Packaged Force Sensor

FIGS. 62A to 62E are perspectives of the various components of thepackaged force sensor 500. FIG. 62A shows a steel ball 524 protrudingfrom the front of a sensor IC (chip) 526. The ball 524 is the pointcontact used to transmit force directly to the chip. Wire bonds 604connect the chip 526 to the spring contacts 478. The chip sits in therecess 564 formed in the rear molding 566 shown in FIG. 62B. A pressurerelief vent 584 in the base of the recess 564 allows air trapped by thechip 526 to escape. The front molding 606 shown in FIG. 62C, has slots608 in its underside for the sprung contacts 478 and a central aperture610 to hold the ball 524. Location details 612 mate with correspondingdetails in the coaxial conductive tubes 498 as shown in FIG. 24.

As there is only 10 microns full span movement in this system, themounting of this assembly in the pen and use of axial preload is tightlytoleranced. The force sensing assembly is mounted in the top of the penso that it can only stress the pen chassis molding 416 (see FIG. 16),and force will not be transmitted to the main PCB 422. The force sensoris a push fit onto the end of the inner conductive metal tube 508 alsotrapping the retainer spring 504, which makes a simple dedicatedassembly 500.

Retainer Spring

Turning to FIGS. 20 and 24, the retainer spring 504 is the equivalent tothe boot 702 described in FIG. 33. It is a high precision stamping outof thin sheet metal with an insulating layer 708 at the point where itcontacts the ball 524. This inhibits electrical interference with theforce sensor IC 526 caused by external electrostatic discharge via theink cartridge 414. The metal retainer spring 504 is formed into fourgripping arms 530 and two spring arms 532. A spent cartridge removaltool 534 is secured to the open end of the cartridge 414 with aninterference fit. The gripping arms 530 grip a complementary externalgrip profile 704 on the removal tool 534. The spring arms 532 extendbeyond the end of gripping arms 530 to press against the stepped section706 in the coaxial tube assembly 498. This in turn pushes insulated base708 against the ball 524 to put an accurate axial preload force ofbetween 10 and 20 grams onto the force sensor.

Ink Cartridge

The pen ink cartridge 414 is best shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B. Researchshows that industry practice is for the ballpoint nib 418 to be made byone source and the metal tube 536 to be made by another, along withassembly and filling. There are no front loading standard ink cartridgesthat meet the design capacity and form factor requirements so a customcartridge has been developed. This ink cartridge 414 has a 3 mm diametertube 536 with a standard ballpoint nib inserted. The spent cartridgeremoval tool 534 is a custom end molding that caps the open end of themetal tube 536.

The removal tool 536 contains an air vent 538 for ink flow, a locationdetail 540 and a co-molded elastomeric ring 542 around a recess 544detail used for extracting the spent ink cartridge. The tool is levereddown to engage the nib of the old cartridge and then drawn out throughthe nib end of the pen as shown in FIG. 21B. The elastomer ring 542reduces the possibility that a hard shock could damage the force sensorif the pen is dropped onto a hard surface.

The location detail 540 allows the ink cartridge 414 to accurately seatinto the retainer spring 504 in the force sensing assembly 474 and to bepreloaded against the force sensor 500. The removal tool (apart from theco-molded elastomeric ring) is made out of a hard plastic such as acetaland can be molded in color to match the ink contents. The ink capacityis 5 ml giving an expected write-out length comparable with standardballpoint ink cartridges. This capacity means that refill cycles will berelatively infrequent during the lifetime of the pen.

Force Sensing Method

Pressing the nib 418 against a surface will transfer the force to theball 524 via the gripping arms 530. The force from the nib adds to thepreload force from the spring arms 532. The force sensor is a push fitinto the end of the coaxial tube assembly 498 and both directly connectto the PCB with spring contacts (478 and 512 respectively). FIG. 24shows the limited space available for an axial force sensor, hence apackaged design is required as off-the-shelf items have no chance offitting in this space envelope in the required configuration.

This force sensing arrangement detects the axial force applied to thecartridge 414, which is the simplest and most accurate solution. Thereis negligible friction in the system as the cartridge contacts only ontwo points, one at either end of the conductive metal barrel 498. Themetal retainer spring 504 will produce an accurate preload force up to20 grams onto the force sensor 500. This is seen to be a reliable systemover time, as the main parts are metal and therefore will not sufferfrom creep, wear or stiction during the lifetime of the pen.

This design also isolates the applied force by directing it onto thepackaged force sensor, which pushes against the solid seat in thechassis molding 416 of the pen. This allows the force sensing assembly474 to float above the main PCB 422 (so as not to put strain on it)whilst transmitting data via the spring contacts 478 at the base of thepackaged force sensor 500. The resulting assembly fits neatly into thepen chassis molding 416 and is easy to hand assemble.

Top/Side Loading Cartridge

As discussed above, the pen will require periodic replacement of the inkcartridge during its lifetime. While the front loading ink cartridgesystem is convenient for users, it can have some disadvantages. Frontloading limits the capacity of the ink reservoir in the cartridge, sincethe diameter of the cartridge along its full length is limited to theminimum cartridge diameter, as dictated by the constraints of the pennose.

The cartridge 414 must be pushed against the force sensor IC 526 (viathe steel ball 524) by a pre-load spring 700 (see FIG. 33). However, thecartridge 414 itself does not provide the face against which the springpushes, since the cartridge must pass through the spring. Thisnecessitates the boot 702 or retaining spring 504 discussed above. Theboot is necessarily a compromise between allowing easy manual insertionand removal of cartridge, and ensuring the cartridge is held securelywithout travel.

A ‘top-loading’ cartridge, as illustrated in FIG. 34, can overcome thesedisadvantages. It will be appreciated that ‘top loading’ is a referenceto insertion of the cartridge from a direction transverse to thelongitudinal axis of the pen. Because of the other components within thepen, it is most convenient to insert the cartridge from the ‘top’ orapex 420 of the pen's substantially triangular cross section (see FIG.13).

The pre-load spring 700 can be placed toward the nib 418 of thecartridge 414, thus providing a convenient mechanism for seating thecartridge against the force sensor ball 524 after insertion. A cartridgetravel stop 712 is formed on the chassis molding 416 to preventoverloading the force sensor 526. Since the cartridge itself providesthe face against which the pre-load spring pushes, the boot iseliminated and the cartridge couples directly with the force sensor.

As the cartridge is no longer constrained to a single diameter along itsfull length, its central section can be wider and accommodate a muchlarger ink reservoir 710.

The currently proposed pen design has an internal chassis 416 and anexternal tube molding 466. The external molding 466 is user replaceable,allowing the user to customise the pen 400. Removing the externalmolding 466 also provides the user with access to the pen's productlabel 652 (see FIG. 71). Skilled workers in this field will appreciatethat the chassis molding 416 and the base molding 528 could be modifiedto provide the user with access to a replaceable battery.

Referring again to FIG. 34, removing the external molding 466 (notshown) can also provide the user with access to the top-loading pencartridge 414. Once the external molding is removed, most of the lengthof the pen cartridge 414 is exposed. The user removes the cartridge bysliding it forwards against the pre-load spring 700 to extract its tail718 from the force sensor aperture 720, then tilting it upwards to freethe tail 718 from the cartridge cavity 722, and finally withdrawing thecartridge 710 from the pre-load spring 700 and cavity 722. The userinserts a new cartridge by following the same procedure in reverse.

Since a top-loading cartridge can have a much greater capacity than afront-loading cartridge, it is not unreasonable to require the user toremove the external molding 466 to replace the cartridge 414, since theuser will have to replace a top-loading cartridge much less often than afront-loading cartridge.

Referring to FIG. 35, the pre-load spring 700 can be provided with itsown cavity 716 and retaining ring 714 to make it easier to insert thecartridge 414.

Force Re-Directing Coupling

The force sensor 526 is ideally mounted perpendicularly to the pencartridge 414, as illustrated in FIG. 33. This allows direct couplingbetween the pen cartridge and the force sensor. This coupling issomewhat independent of whether there is an intermediate boot 702 ornot, as discussed above in relation to the side loading cartridge. Tofit within the constrained space of the pen's tubular moulding 466, itcan be advantageous to mount the force sensor 526 in any desiredposition relative to the cartridge 414. This involves re-directing atleast part of the contact force being transferred along the cartridge414.

A suitable force sensor 526 for the pen is a silicon piezoresistivebridge force sensor, such as manufactured by Hokuriku (see Hokuriku,Force Sensor HFD-500, http://www.hdk.co.jp/pdf/en/e1381AA.pdf fordetails). The invention will be illustrated with reference to this forcesensor. However it will be appreciated that many other force sensors arealso suitable.

As shown in FIG. 36, the standard Hokuriku force sensor package measures5.2 mm wide by 7.0 mm long (or 8.0 mm with leads) by about 3 mm thick.This thickness includes the ball 524, which protrudes 150-200 microns.The headroom above the PCB 422 in the embodiment shown is just over 5mm. The pen cartridge axis extends centrally through the boot 702 and isjust under 3 mm above the PCB 422. It is therefore possible to mount thestandard Hokuriku force sensor package 526 on the PCB 422, eitherlongitudinally (see FIGS. 37A and 37B) or possibly laterally (see FIG.38), and provide an off-axis coupling mechanism between the pencartridge 418 and the force sensor 526.

FIG. 36 shows a force transfer element in the form of a double-bowcoupling piece 726 between the cartridge 414 and the force sensor 526.The lower, or force transfer bow 730 expands downwards when subject toforce from the cartridge via the boot 702. The force is transmittedthrough a right angle, providing the required coupling between thecartridge 414 and the force sensor 526 mounted on the PCB 422. Each bow728 and 730 is formed from a flexible sheet. The edges of each sheet arecurved to minimize friction with the walls of the cavity.

The double-bow design acts as a centralizer, preventing the cartridge414 from moving upwards when force is applied, and eliminating an areaof friction. The top of the upper bow 728 can be pinned, if necessary,to eliminate another point of friction (or the cavity itself can providea curved ridge contact). Friction between the force transfer bow 730 andthe ball 524 of the force sensor 526 is small because the curvature ofthe ball minimizes the contact area.

The force sensor 526 mates with a recess in the chassis moulding 416 toform the cavity in which the double-bow coupling piece 726 operates.

The pen cartridge 414 or the boot 702 necessarily engages with thecoupling piece 726 above the axis of the cartridge 414, since it isimpractical to align the two while efficiently utilizing the availablespace. However, because the ratio of the length of the cartridge to itsdiameter is large, negligible torsion is induced by this off-axiscoupling. As discussed above, the centralizing function of thedouble-bow design minimizes friction.

The double bow coupling piece 726 can be thought of as having two springconstants. When unconstrained by the cavity, the double bow can act as areasonably soft spring. It should be soft enough to guarantee that itexpands to fill the cavity when subjected to the force of the preloadspring. The softness will also be a function of the manufacturingtolerances of both the cavity and the double-bow coupling piece 726.When the top bow 728 is constrained by the cavity, the double bowcoupling piece 726 can act as a very stiff spring. It should be stiffenough to avoid resonant frequencies which overlap frequencies ofinterest in the real force signal.

The force sensor 526 shown in FIGS. 20, 24 and 63A to 63E is mounted inthe chassis moulding 416, and makes electrical contact with the PCB 422via a set of sprung leads. This prevents force being transmitted tosolder joints between the force sensor 526 and the PCB 422, and to thePCB itself.

By contrast, in this aspect of the invention, the force sensor 526 ismounted flush with the PCB 422 and is therefore ideally soldered to it.Furthermore, the force sensor 526 must be securely attached to thechassis moulding 416 because it will be subject to a force pushing itaway from the moulding.

To make this practical, the PCB 422 can be securely attached to thechassis moulding 416 via a set of clips formed in the chassis moulding416 and extending below the PCB 422. Pins can also be provided as partof the chassis moulding 416, to penetrate and anchor the PCB 422. ThePCB 422 can then float within the tubular body 466, with its main anchorpoint being in the centre of the pen, at the location of the forcesensor 526.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 37A to 50, re-direct the force (at leastpartially) from the cartridge or boot 702, to the sensor 526, via ahydraulic coupling. As with the double bow coupling, this allows theforce sensor to be positioned conveniently within the constraints of thepen body, and addresses other problems such as damage from thedeceleration shock when the pen is tapped or dropped, and a relativelyundamped transient response which limits the available sensor bandwidth.

The general layout of the design is shown in FIGS. 37A, 37B and 38 usingthe Hokuriku HFD-500 force sensor discussed above in relation to thedouble bow coupling. As previously mentioned, other high range pressuresensors are also suitable. The sensor 526 can be used with or withoutthe ball bearing 524. The PCB 422 needs to float on its mounts so thatthe end stop behind the over-mould 734 brings all the axial pen forceonto the pen chassis (not shown) rather than the surface-mountconnection to the PCB 422.

FIGS. 39A and 39B show the hydraulic coupling in more detail. The inkcartridge 418 has a nib at its distal end and a boot 702 at the oppositeend. The boot pushes a plunger 732 onto a membrane or gel surface 742through an aperture in the over moulded package 734. The increasedpressure in the hydraulic fluid or gel 736 acts on the ball bearing 524of the force sensor 526. The output signal from the sensor 526 istransmitted directly to contacts on the PCB 422 via pins 740.

The action of the input force F on the force sensor is schematicallyshown in FIGS. 40 and 41. It will be appreciated that these sketches aresimplified and without the right-angle bend. The right angle in thefluid path has no effect on the fluid at low flow rates.

FIG. 40 represents the situation with an unmodified Hokuriku sensor 526.The ball 524 acts as a piston, approximately, as its cross-sectionalarea normal to the direction of travel hardly changes.

Pressure throughout the fluid or gel 736, (in the case of the Hokurikusensor, silicone gel) is constant so:P=F/Ai=Fo/Ao,

-   -   Where P is the pressure in the gel;    -   F is the input force;    -   Fo is sensed force;    -   Ai is the area of the plunger;    -   Ao is the projected surface area of the ball in plan view, or        effective diaphragm size.    -   Thus        Fo/F=Ao/Ai

This ratio of the output force to the applied force is here termed theGearing Ratio (gr). Experimental results show that the Gearing Ratio forthe Hokuriku sensor is 0.22.

FIG. 41 shows the Hokuriku sensor having been modified to remove theball. The cavity of the sensor 526 is also filled with the fluid or gel736 and the pressure acts directly on the sensor chip 526, so theeffective diaphragm size (Ao) is the top surface of the sensor chip 526.

The difference between using a sensor with the ball bearing 524 andwithout the ball bearing, is that the top surface of the chip 526 doesnot act as a piston, but rather it deforms like a balloon. The forcesensor chip is actually sensing a pressure instead of a force. Comparethe typical force sensor deflection profile in FIG. 42 to a typicalpressure sensor deflection profile in FIG. 43. The deflection in thepressure sensor case will be less at the centre of the chip and it willbe less sensitive, but simpler. This diaphragm diameter is alsodifferent from the first case and so will provide a different gearingratio. A practical realisation of the sensor configured to respond tothe pressure in the hydraulic coupling is shown in FIG. 44. It isimportant to vent the cavity 748 beneath the force sensor chip 526 withan aperture through the moulding 734.

Any sensor chip 526 responsive to differential pressure can be used.However, high sensitivity are less preferred. The back of the chip mustbe open to the ambient air pressure. The range of pressures is in theorder of atmospheres, so high-sensitivity sensor chips are lesssuitable, eg. 500 g force over a 4 mm² diaphragm (top surface of sensorchip) is 1.3 MPa=181 PSI=12 atm.

The fluid or gel 736 in the casing 734 should be incompressible. Allbubbles should be removed, with a vacuum if necessary. The differencebetween various fluids is the sheer force and the resulting pressurehead (loss) and loss of transmitted force.Fin(effective)=Fin−FsheerPeffective=Fin(eff)/Ai−Phead

The pressure head loss is insignificant for silicone gel and it hasproven to be a suitable for the requirements of the force sensor 526.However other fluids or gels may be used and the issues to be consideredwhen selecting a suitable fill for the casing are:

-   -   i Lower viscosity decreases the strength of the chip 526 (or        more correctly, the chip needs to be less rigid) and the easier        it is to break.    -   ii Higher viscosity causes more hysteresis loss. The sensor        signal should return-to-zero setting after release of the input        force.    -   iii Secondary effects (resonant frequencies and standing waves)        related to the effective elasticity of the coupling fill should        be minimised.    -   iv Losses in the high frequencies can help to dampen the        step/impulse response.

The elasticity of the boot, mounting, and writing surface all affect theself-resonant oscillations. A softer coupling (low stiffness) lowers theoscillation frequency, which is undesirable. Conversely, a stiffercoupling increases the deceleration force component of the pen-downaction (for convenience, the pen down response is referred to as the“F1” response). This F1 response provides an unwanted artefact in theforce signal and increases the risk of chip breakage. FIG. 45 shows atypical tap response output signal that illustrates the F1 response.

There are several possibilities for applying the input force to thehydraulic fluid or gel 736. Three of the primary options are shown inFIGS. 46A to 46C.

In FIG. 46A, the input piston 752 forms a sliding fit with the aperturein the casing 734. The piston is overly complicated for a microstructureand sealing the sides will cause friction—which is highly undesirable.

In FIG. 46B, the input force F acts directly on an outwardly bulgingmembrane 754. The diaphragm 754 is really only relevant to pressuresensors where the input is a liquid or gas.

FIG. 46C shows a diaphragm 754 and plunger 752 combination. Thismechanism can be made robust so that it is difficult to burst, thesurface strength of the diaphragm 754 does not need to be so high thatit interferes with force transmission and the exhaust of material aroundthe sides of the plunger 752 can be restrained as it lowers the springconstant of the coupling and reduce the frequency response of thestep/impulse function. Also, the exhausted material and wall expansionof the casing 734 (see FIG. 41) increases the volume ratio (see Ncalculated below). Some increase is tolerable and in fact might bedesirable for protecting the chip.

When designing the force input mechanism of FIG. 46C, the relevantconsiderations are:

-   -   i Shear force/piston effect    -   ii Strength: plunger collapses into the fluid    -   iii Gap provides a vent for the fluid to oscillate in and        softens the coupling—undesirably lowering the oscillation        frequency (see above).    -   iv Gap magnifies the volume ratio of the input piston relative        to the output piston (perfect piston behaviour).

Volume ratio:

-   -   N=(Xin×Ain)/(Xout×Aout), where X is the axial displacement,

N is approximately 20, if Xin at an input force of 500 g isapproximately 400 microns.

Up to a point this axial magnification (Xin/Xout) is good as it means,in this case, that the 10 microns movement of the sensor diaphragm 754might give a 0.2 mm cartridge movement. This allows a better end-stopprotection mechanism (see FIG. 37B) to be used that does not have suchcritical tolerance requirements.

The surface of the diaphragm 754 can be:

-   -   i Just the soft bulk material of the semi-cured silicone.    -   ii Silicone with a thin membrane    -   iii Silicone with say an epoxy (etc) painted over it.    -   iv The outer part of the fluid would be extra-hardened with a        surface treatment.    -   v A welded film.

A thin membrane over silicone option is very fragile. The welded filmcan be too strong and already pre-strained, so most of the applied forceis lost in stretching the film and not translated into fluid pressure.The welded film configuration is shown in FIGS. 47A to 47C. In FIG. 47A,the input force F_(i) is lost to F_(s) used for stretching the film 756.In FIG. 47B, the film 756 initially bulges outwardly so that the plunger752 acts to reduce the film stretching and more of F_(i) is used toraise the fluid pressure. However, as shown in FIG. 47C, the film 756bulges, or exhausts around the sides of the plunger 752 when F_(i) andtherefore plunger displacement, are relatively high. In this case,considerations i to iv discussed above become relevant.

End Stop for Directly Coupled Sensor

If a force re-directing coupling is not used, and the sensor is directlycoupled to the cartridge or the boot (see FIG. 33), the issue ofoverload damage to the sensor becomes a problem. The Hokuriku chip(referred to above) breaks at a static deflection of ˜50 microns at anapplied force of 4.5 kg. Most of this deflection is in the mouldedcasing 734, not the chip 526. For example, at 500 g the 10 microndeflection is composed of no more than 2 microns in the chip 526, theremaining 8 microns being in the moulded casing.

Static Overload Protection

To protect the chip 526 from static overload an end-stop that is setnominally at say 1 kg (equating to 16 microns deflection) would have toengage the casing somewhere between at 10 microns and 21 microns.Fabricating an end-stop to this accuracy is difficult. Firstly theend-stop has to be referenced with respect to the back of the mouldedcasing 734, as the internal deflection of the chip 526 relative to thepackage is small. Tests confirm that an end-stop referenced to the frontface does not protect the chip 526 as effectively.

FIGS. 48 and 49 show end stop arrangements 738 referenced to the back ofthe moulded casing. Testing has shown these arrangements to besuccessful at protecting the chip at large static loads withoutexcessive interference in normal operation. The flange 758 should engagethe end-stop 738 at all points within a very short range of travel ofthe boot 702. This complicates the manufactures but an excessiveengagement range can exceed the full scale operating range of the sensor526.

FIG. 49 is a more detailed sketch of the sensor and end stop in the pencontext. Contact pressure on the nib 418 is directly transmitted up thecartridge 414 to the ball 524 of the sensor 526. The end of thecartridge 414 is in the boot 702 which is pre-loaded against the ball524 by the pre-load spring 700. The end stop 738 takes the form of acup-shaped element with a stop surface 712 at its top for engagementwith the boot 702. An optional layer 760 of material with a known springconstant can be positioned behind the sensor 526 for additional breakageprotection.

Dynamic Load Protection

Shock loading is a problem for directly coupled force sensor as well asfluid coupled sensors. The fluid or gel transmits the deceleration shockjust as well as the direct mechanical coupling. However, the membranesin the fluid couplings tend to break rather than the chips. Eitherfailure would be irreparable in the Netpage pen shown in the figures, asthere are no serviceable parts other than the removable cartridge andbattery pack.

Fortunately, the “volume magnification” effect of the fluid couplinghelps because it magnifies the failure threshold displacement.

As above:Xin/Xout×N×Aout/Ain=N×gr=displacement magnification

-   -   where:    -   N=volume ratio    -   gr=gearing ratio    -   assuming no secondary effects.    -   So for the displacement magnification=10 (say)    -   Xin@500 g=10×10=100 microns

An end-stop fitted to prevent displacements of this dimension is moreeasily manufactured than one configured to stop 10 micron displacements.From FIG. 50, the ordinary worker will appreciate that a 100 micron gapbetween the flange 758 of the plunger 732 and the stop surface 712 ofthe end stop 738 is far easier than a 10 micron gap.

Deformable Force Sensor Coupling

For direct coupling between the pen cartridge (or boot) and the forcesensor, the sensor is mounted so that the plane of the chip 526 isperpendicular to the axis of the cartridge 414 (see FIG. 33). Thiscoupling is somewhat independent of whether the assembly includes theboot 702 over the end of the cartridge 414.

The force sensor 526 deflects in response to an applied force F. Asdiscussed above, the sensor may break when the applied force exceeds theelastic limits of the sensor.

As shown in FIG. 33, the force sensor 526 may be recessed to preventexcessive deflection. However, even if the force sensor is protectedfrom an excessive static force, an impulse may still be sufficient tobreak the sensor, such as when the pen is dropped on its nib 418.

To prevent an impulse from breaking the force sensor, an element may beinserted between the nib and the force sensor that can collapse orgrossly deform when the input force is above a safe threshold. Thecollapsible element is designed to absorb the energy of an impulseoriginating at the nib by collapsing, thus preventing the impulse frompropagating to the force sensor.

The collapsible element may be designed to collapse permanently ortemporarily.

If the collapsible element is designed to collapse permanently, then itis most usefully incorporated into the cartridge, since the cartridge isalready designed to be replaceable by the user when the ink supply isexhausted or the nib is damaged.

FIG. 51 shows a pen cartridge 414 with an integral collapsible element766. The collapsible element 766 consists of a set of struts 770 joiningtwo parts 762 and 764 of the cartridge 414. The struts 770 transmitaxial forces throughout the full dynamic range of the force sensorwithout substantial deformation, but are designed to have a bucklingthreshold, as shown in FIG. 52, when exposed to an excessive force ordamaging impulse F. The outer section 764 of the cartridge 414 ispermanently displaced along the longitudinal axis 768 toward the innersection 762 proximate the force sensor. To assist crumpling the struts770 are set at an angle to the axis of the cartridge.

The example shows two struts, but additional struts can be used.

In a felt-tip pen cartridge or similar, the nib 418 itself can be usedas the collapsible element. In a ballpoint pen cartridge 414 the housingsurrounding the nib 418 can also be used as the collapsible element 766.

FIG. 53 shows a temporarily collapsible element 766 suitable forinsertion between the pen cartridge 414 and the force sensor. Thecollapsible element 766 consists of a pair of rods 762 and 764 held inan elastomeric sleeve 772, with both rods meeting at a slip surface 776inclined to the longitudinal axis 768.

The element 766 transmits axial forces throughout the full dynamic rangeof the force sensor without slipping, but is designed to slip, as shownin FIG. 54, when exposed to an excessive force or damaging impulse F.The stick friction at the slip surface 776 and the force of theelastomeric sleeve 772 keeps the rods 762 and 764 from slipping exceptwhen exposed to an excessive force.

When the excessive force is removed the elastomeric sleeve 772 alignsthe rods to restore the un-collapsed state of the collapsible element.Locating features 774 on both rods 762 and 764 prevent the sleeve 772from moving away from the slip surface 776.

FIG. 55 is a sectioned perspective of the stick friction collapsibleelement 766, and shows the elastomeric sleeve 772 surrounding the matedrods 762 and 764.

Optical Force Sensor

The Hokuriku force sensor discussed above is piezoresistive. Sensors ofthis type present several challenges. They necessitate aprecision-assembly and the required form factor is not currentlyavailable in a standard part. Hence to prototype the part and tool upfor volume production is costly. Furthermore, its full-force deflectionis small, requiring careful tolerancing to prevent breakage.

To avoid these problems, this aspect of the invention provides anoptical force sensor that uses the attenuation of an optical couplingbetween a light-emitting diode (LED) and a photodetector.

FIG. 33 shows a typical configuration of a force sensor 526 coupled witha pen cartridge 414 within a pen body 416. The cartridge 414 ispre-loaded (spring 700) against the force sensor to eliminate travelbefore force sensing commences and to eliminate the need for finetolerancing of the coupling between the force sensor and the cartridge(or the boot 702 which grips the cartridge 414).

FIGS. 56A and 56B shows the optical force sensor. It consists of a rigidbut movable core held within a rigid housing 416. The end of the housing416 has an opening (on the left) through which the end of the core 786protrudes and engages with the pen cartridge (or boot) as shown in FIG.33. The other end of the core engages with a spring 784.

The other end of the housing 416 also has an opening (on the right)through which the other end of the core 786 protrudes to ensure the coreremains centered in the housing.

The centre of the core has an aperture 782 which faces a LED 780 on oneside and a photodetector 778 on the other.

As the cartridge 414 pushes against the core 786, the core 786 pushesagainst the spring 784 and compresses it in proportion to the forceapplied to the cartridge 414. As the core 786 moves in proportion to theapplied force, the aperture 782 moves relative to the LED 780 andphotodetector 778. The amount of light detected by the photodetector 778is therefore a function of the position of the core 786 and hence of theapplied force.

The shape of the aperture 782 and the shape of the housing surroundingthe LED 780 and the photodetector 778 determine how much light strikesthe photodetector 778 as a function of the position of the core 782. Theamount of light is also affected by the beam profile of the LED, andthis can be modified by using a collimating lens or a diffuser in frontof the LED.

The force sensor has a desired dynamic range. The aperture 782 ispositioned relative to the LED 780 and photodetector 778 so that whenzero external force is applied close to zero light strikes thephotodetector 778. The spring 784 is chosen so that when maximumexternal force is applied the core 786 is displaced so that the aperture782 aligns with the LED 780 and photodetector 778 and maximum lightstrikes the photodetector 778. The aperture 782 is made wide enough sothat transverse movement of the core 786 in the housing 416 does notaffect light transmission.

If the maximum external force is F_(max) and the length of the apertureis a, then the required stiffness k of the spring is:k=F _(max) /a  (EQ 1)

During use of the pen, axial cartridge movement up to 100 microns isacceptable, and this imposes an upper limit on the length of theaperture. Although this would seem to impose severe mechanicaltolerancing requirements on the length of the movable core, the lengthof the chamber which houses the core, and the length of the spring, thisis not necessarily so. When the force sensor is assembled, the core doesnot need to be in contact with the spring. Instead, the external springwhich pre-loads the pen cartridge against the force sensor can also berelied upon to pre-load the core against the force sensor spring.However, the aperture in the core has to be long enough to accommodatethe full range of movement of the core.

The force is sampled at a rate that is determined by the expectedfrequency content of the force signal, the maximum allowed latency indetecting pen-down and pen-up events, and any requirement to low-passfilter the force signal to remove noise.

FIG. 57 shows a high-level block diagram of the force sensor. A forcesensor controller 582 uses a pulse-width modulator (PWM) 788 to drivethe LED 780 with a desired intensity. It uses an analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) 790 to sample the photodetector (PD) 778 signal whichrepresents the force signal. The PD 778 output current is converted to avoltage before being sampled by the ADC 790. It is amplified by aprogrammable-gain amplifier (PGA) 792 and is typically also low-passfiltered.

The force sensor controller 582 can use the PWM 788 to cycle the LED 780through a set of different intensities, and combine successive ADC 790samples to obtain a higher-precision signal. In the limit case the ADC790 can be a simple comparator.

The force sensor controller 582 can also operate in multiple modes. Forexample, when in pen-up mode it can simply be looking for a pen-downtransition, while in pen-down mode it can be sampling the force signalwith higher precision. A simple pen-down detection mode can helpminimise power consumption.

The force sensor can be calibrated in the factory to determine thetransfer function from applied force to photodetector output, and thiscan be used to determine gain and offset settings for the PGA 792. Theforce sensor can also measure its zero-force signal when capped, andutilise an otherwise fixed transfer function.

Force Sensor Dilatant Fluid Stop

As previously discussed, direct coupling between the pen cartridge (orboot) and the force sensor, requires the sensor to be mounted so thatthe plane of the chip 526 is perpendicular to the axis of the cartridge414 (see FIG. 33). This coupling is somewhat independent of whether theassembly includes the boot 702 over the end of the cartridge 414.

The force sensor 526 deflects in response to an applied force F. Asdiscussed above, the sensor may break when the applied force exceeds theelastic limits of the sensor.

As shown in FIG. 33, the force sensor 526 may be recessed to preventexcessive deflection. However, even if the force sensor is protectedfrom an excessive static force, an impulse may still be sufficient tobreak the sensor, such as when the pen is dropped on its nib 418.

A dilatant (or “shear thickening”) fluid is a non-Newtonian fluid whoseviscosity increases with rate of shear. Dilatant fluids are typicallydispersions of solid particles in a liquid at a critical particleconcentration which allows the particles to touch. At a low shear ratethe particles are able to slide past each other and the fluid behaves asa liquid. Above a critical shear rate friction between the particlespredominates and the fluid behaves as a solid. Although the best-knowndilatant fluid consists of a cornstarch dispersion in water, industrialdilatant fluids typically consist of polymer dispersions in alcohol orwater (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,880 to Schmidt et al).

To prevent damage to the force sensor 526 from an impulse, an additionalstop 798 containing a dilatant fluid 796 can be inserted between theboot 702 (or cartridge 414) and the force sensor 526, as shown in FIG.58. The dilatant fluid 796 can be contained in a sack 798 with aflexible membrane, formed into an o-ring to allow direct contact betweenthe boot 702 (or cartridge) and the force sensor 526 through the hole inthe middle.

During normal operation of the pen, the dilatant fluid o-ring acts as aliquid and deforms in response to movement of the cartridge 414,allowing normal forces to be transmitted from the cartridge to the forcesensor 526. When a damaging impulse occurs, the dilatant fluid o-ringeffectively hardens in response to the high shear rate, preventingmovement of the cartridge and thereby protecting the force sensor.

The thickness of the o-ring does not need to be finely tolerancedbecause the preload spring 700 preloads the cartridge 414 against theforce sensor 526 largely independently of the o-ring. However, the ball524 of the force sensor 526 needs to be sufficiently proud of the forcesensor recess, formed by the surrounding stop 712, to accommodate atleast some dilatant fluid 796 between the boot 702 and the stop 712 whenthe force sensor is preloaded.

If the boot is provided with a pin 718, as shown in FIG. 59, then athicker o-ring can be accommodated. There is more displacement of thecartridge during a normal pen down event, but a thicker o-ring affordsgreater protection for the sensor 526.

Cap Assembly

The pen cap assembly 472 consists of four moldings as shown in FIG. 25.These moldings combine to produce a pen cap which can be stowed on thetop end of the pen 456 during operation. When capped, it provides aswitch to the electronics to signal the capped state (described in ‘CapDetection Circuit’ section below). A conductive elastomeric molding 522inside the cap 410 functions as the cap switch when it connects theinner 512 and outer 514 metal tubes to short circuit them (see FIG. 26).The conductive elastomeric molding 522 is pushed into a base recess inthe cap molding 410. It is held captive by the clip molding 544 which isoffered into the cap and snaps in place. A metallised trim molding 546snaps onto the cap molding 410 to complete the assembly 472.

The cap molding 410 is line-of-draw and has an aquagraphic print appliedto it. The trim 546 can be metallised in reflective silver or gold typefinishes as well as coloured plastics if required.

Pen Feedback Systems—Vibratory

The pen 400 has two sensory feedback systems. The first system ishaptic, in the form of a vibration motor 446. In most instances this isthe primary user feedback system as it is in direct contact with theusers hand 408 and the ‘shaking’ can be instantly felt and not ignoredor missed.

Pen Feedback Systems—Visual

The second system is a visual indication in the form of an indicatorwindow 412 in the tube molding 466 on the top apex 420 of the pen 400.This window aligns with a light pipe 448 in the chassis molding 416,which transmits light from red and green indicator LEDs 452 on the mainPCB 422. The indicator window 412 is positioned so that it is notcovered by the user's hand 408 and it is also unobstructed when the cap410 is stowed on the top end 456 of the pen.

Optical Design

The pen incorporates a fixed-focus narrowband infrared imaging system.It utilises a camera with a short exposure time, small aperture, andbright synchronised illumination to capture sharp images unaffected bydefocus blur or motion blur.

TABLE 5 Optical Specifications Magnification −0.225 Focal length of lens6.0 mm Viewing distance 30.5 mm Total track length 41.0 mm Aperturediameter 0.8 mm Depth of field +/−6.5 mm⁷ Exposure time 200 usWavelength 810 nm⁸ Image sensor size 140 × 140 pixels Pixel size 10 umPitch range⁹ −15 to +45 deg Roll range −30 to +30 deg Yaw range 0 to 360deg Minimum sampling 2.25 pixels per rate macrodot Maximum pen velocity0.5 m/s ⁷Allowing 70 um blur radius ⁸Illumination and filter ⁹Pitch,roll and yaw are relative to the axis of the pen.Pen Optics and Design Overview

Cross sections showing the pen optics are provided in FIGS. 27A and 27B.An image of the Netpage tags printed on a surface 548 adjacent to thenib 418 is focused by a lens 488 onto the active region of an imagesensor 490. A small aperture 494 ensures the available depth of fieldaccommodates the required pitch and roll ranges of the pen 400.

First and second LEDs 434 and 436 brightly illuminate the surface 549within the field of view 430. The spectral emission peak of the LEDs ismatched to the spectral absorption peak of the infrared ink used toprint Netpage tags to maximise contrast in captured images of tags. Thebrightness of the LEDs is matched to the small aperture size and shortexposure time required to minimise defocus and motion blur.

A longpass IR filter 432 suppresses the response of the image sensor 490to any coloured graphics or text spatially coincident with imaged tagsand any ambient illumination below the cut-off wavelength of the filter432. The transmission of the filter 432 is matched to the spectralabsorption peak of the infrared ink to maximise contrast in capturedimages of tags. The filter also acts as a robust physical window,preventing contaminants from entering the optical assembly 470.

The Imaging System

A ray trace of the optic path is shown in FIG. 28. The image sensor 490is a CMOS image sensor with an active region of 140 pixels squared. Eachpixel is 10 μm squared, with a fill factor of 93%. Turning to FIG. 29,the lens 488 is shown in detail. The dimensions are:

-   -   D=3 mm    -   R1=3.593 mm    -   R2=15.0 mm    -   X=0.8246 mm    -   Y=1.0 mm    -   Z=0.25 mm

This gives a focal length of 6.15 mm and transfers the image from theobject plane (tagged surface 548) to the image plane (image sensor 490)with the correct sampling frequency to successfully decode all imagesover the specified pitch, roll and yaw ranges. The lens 488 is biconvex,with the most curved surface facing the image sensor. The minimumimaging field of view 430 required to guarantee acquisition of an entiretag has a diameter of 39.6 s (s=spacing between macrodots in the tagpattern) allowing for arbitrary alignment between the surface coding andthe field of view. Given a macrodot spacing, s, of 143 μm, this gives arequired field of view of 5.7 mm.

The required paraxial magnification of the optical system is defined bythe minimum spatial sampling frequency of 2.25 pixels per macrodot forthe fully specified tilt range of the pen 400, for the image sensor 490of 10 μm pixels. Thus, the imaging system employs a paraxialmagnification of −0.225, the ratio of the diameter of the inverted image(1.28 mm) at the image sensor to the diameter of the field of view (5.7mm) at the object plane, on an image sensor 490 of minimum 128×128pixels. The image sensor 490 however is 140×140 pixels, in order toaccommodate manufacturing tolerances. This allows up to +/−120 μm (12pixels in each direction in the plane of the image sensor) ofmisalignment between the optical axis and the image sensor axis withoutlosing any of the information in the field of view.

The lens 488 is made from Poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA), typicallyused for injection moulded optical components. PMMA is scratchresistant, and has a refractive index of 1.49, with 90% transmission at810 nm. The lens is biconvex to assist moulding precision and features amounting surface to precisely mate the lens with the optical barrelmolding 492.

A 0.8 mm diameter aperture 494 is used to provide the depth of fieldrequirements of the design.

The specified tilt range of the pen is −15.0 to +45.0 degree pitch, witha roll range of −30.0 to +30.0 degrees. Tilting the pen through itsspecified range moves the tilted object plane up to 6.3 mm away from thefocal plane. The specified aperture thus provides a corresponding depthof field of +/−6.5 mm, with an acceptable blur radius at the imagesensor of 16 μm.

Due to the geometry of the pen design, the pen operates correctly over apitch range of −33.0 to +45.0 degrees.

Referring to FIG. 30, the optical axis 550 is pitched 0.8 degrees awayfrom the nib axis 552. The optical axis and the nib axis converge towardthe paper surface 548. With the nib axis 552 perpendicular to the paper,the distance A between the edge of the field of view 430 closest to thenib axis and the nib axis itself is 1.2 mm.

The longpass IR filter 432 is made of CR-39, a lightweight thermosetplastic heavily resistant to abrasion and chemicals such as acetone.Because of these properties, the filter also serves as a window. Thefilter is 1.5 mm thick, with a refractive index of 1.50. Each filter maybe easily cut from a large sheet using a CO₂ laser cutter.

The Illumination System

The tagged surface 548 is illuminated by a pair of 3 mm diameter LEDs434 and 436. The LEDs emit 810 nm radiation with a divergence halfintensity, half angle of +/−15 degrees in a 35 nm spectral band (FWHM),each with a power of approximately 45 mW per steradian.

Pod Design and Assembly

TABLE 2 Pod Mechanical Specifications Size h63 × w43 × d46 mm Mass 50 gOperating −10~+55 C. Temperature Operating Relative 10-90% HumidityStorage −20 to +60 C. worst case Temperature Storage Relative 5-95%Humidity Shock and Vibration Drop from 1 m onto a hard surface withoutdamage. Mechanical shock 600G, 2.5 ms, 6 axis. ServiceabilityReplaceable jacket (part of customisation kit). No internal userserviceable parts - the case is not user openable. Power USB: 500 mA.External power adapter: 600 mA at 5.5 VDC.Pod Design

The pen 400 is supplied with a USB tethered pod, which provides power tothe pen and a Bluetooth transceiver for data transfer between the penand the pod. Referring to FIG. 31, the pod 450 is a modular design andis comprised of several line of draw moldings. The pod tower molding 554holds the pen at a 15 degree from vertical angle, which is bothergonomic from a pen stowing and extraction perspective, but also isinherently stable.

Pod Assembly

The assembly sequence for the pod 450 is as follows:

An elastomeric stop molding 556 is push fitted into the pod towermolding 554 to provide a positive stop for the pen when inserted intothe pod.

The pod tower molding 554 has two metal contacts 516 pushed ontolocation ribs under the stop. These contacts 516 protrude into a void558 where the nib molding 428 is seated as shown in FIG. 32. When a penis present, they contact the coaxial metal barrels 498 around the inkcartridge 414. These act as conductors to provide charge to the battery424.

The pod PCB 560 is offered up into the pod tower molding 554 and snappedinto place. Sprung charging contacts 562 on the metal contact piece 516align with power pads on the pod PCB 560 during assembly. The undersideof the pod PCB 450 includes several arrays of red, green and blue LEDs564 which indicate several charging states from empty to full. Blue isthe default ‘charging’ and ‘pod empty’ status color and they aretransmitted via a translucent elastomeric light pipe 566 as anilluminated arc around the pod base molding 568.

Despite a reasonable centre of gravity with a pen inserted, a castweight 570 sits in the base molding 568 to increase stability and lessenthe chance of the pod 450 falling over when knocked. The base molding568 screws into the tower molding 554 to hold the weight 570, light pipe566 and PCB 560 after the tethered USB/power cable 572 is connected tothe pod PCB 560.

Personalisation

In line with the market differentiation ability of the pen, the podincludes a pod jacket molding 468. This user removable molding isprinted with the same aquagrahic transfer pattern as the tube and capmoldings of the pen it is supplied with as a kit.

Therefore the pattern of the pen, cap and pod are three items thatstrongly identify an individual users pen and pod to avoid confusionwhere there are multiple products in the same environment. They alsoallow this product to become a personal statement for the user.

The pod jacket molding 468 can be supplied as an aftermarket accessoryin any number of patterns and images with the cap assembly 472 and thetube molding 466 as discussed earlier.

Electronics Design

TABLE 3 Electrical Specifications Processor ARM7 (Atmel AT91FR40162)running at 80 MHz with 256 kB SRAM and 2 MB flash memory Digital inkstorage 5 hours of writing capacity Bluetooth 1.2 Compliance USBCompliance 1.1 Battery standby time 12 hours (cap off), >4 weeks (capon) Battery writing time 4 hours of cursive writing (81% pen down,assuming easy offload of digital ink) Battery charging 2 hours timeBattery Life Typically 300 charging cycles or 2 years (whichever occursfirst) to 80% of initial capacity. Battery Capacity/Type ~340 mAh at 3.7V, Lithium-ion Polymer (LiPo)Pen Electronics Block Diagram

FIG. 60 is a block diagram of the pen electronics. The electronicsdesign for the pen is based around five main sections. These are:

-   -   the main ARM7 microprocessor 574,    -   the image sensor and image processor 576,    -   the Bluetooth communications module 578,    -   the power management unit IC (PMU) 580 and    -   the force sensor microprocessor 582.        ARM7 Microprocessor

The pen uses an Atmel AT91FR40162 microprocessor (see Atmel, AT91 ARMThumb Microcontrollers-AT91FR40162 Preliminary,http://www.keil.com/dd/docs/datashts/atmel/at91fr40162.pdf) running at80 MHz. The AT91FR40162 incorporates an ARM7 microprocessor, 256 kBytesof on-chip single wait state SRAM and 2 MBytes of external flash memoryin a stack chip package.

This microprocessor 574 forms the core of the pen 400. Its dutiesinclude:

-   -   setting up the Jupiter image sensor 584,    -   decoding images of Netpage coded impressions, with assistance        from the image processing features of the image sensor 584, for        inclusion in the digital ink stream along with force sensor data        received from the force sensor microprocessor 582,    -   setting up the power management IC (PMU) 580,    -   compressing and sending digital ink via the Bluetooth        communications module 578, and    -   programming the force sensor microprocessor 582.

The ARM7 microprocessor 574 runs from an 80 MHz oscillator. Itcommunicates with the Jupiter image sensor 576 using a UniversalSynchronous Receiver Transmitter (USRT) 586 with a 40 MHz clock. TheARM7 574 communicates with the Bluetooth module 578 using a UniversalAsynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) 588 running at 115.2 kbaud.Communications to the PMU 580 and the Force Sensor microProcessor (FSP)582 are performed using a Low Speed Serial bus (LSS) 590. The LSS isimplemented in software and uses two of the microprocessor's generalpurpose IOs.

The ARM7 microprocessor 574 is programmed via its JTAG port. This isdone when the microprocessor is on the main PCB 422 by probing bare pads592 (see FIG. 63) on the PCB.

Jupiter Image Sensor

The Jupiter Image Sensor 584 (see U.S. Ser. No. 10/778,056 listed in thecross referenced documents above) contains a monochrome sensor array, ananalogue to digital converter (ADC), a frame store buffer, a simpleimage processor and a phase lock loop (PLL). In the pen, Jupiter usesthe USRT's clock line and its internal PLL to generate all its clockingrequirements. Images captured by the sensor array are stored in theframe store buffer. These images are decoded by the ARM7 microprocessor574 with help from the Callisto image processor contained in Jupiter.

Jupiter controls the strobing of two infrared LEDs 434 and 436 at thesame time as its image array is exposed. One or other of these twoinfrared LEDs may be turned off while the image array is exposed toprevent specular reflection off the paper that can occur at certainangles.

Bluetooth Communications Module

The pen uses a CSR BlueCore4-External device (see CSR,BlueCore4-External Data Sheet rev c, 6 Sep. 2004) as the Bluetoothcontroller 578. It requires an external 8 Mbit flash memory device 594to hold its program code. The BlueCore4 meets the Bluetooth v1.2specification and is compliant to v0.9 of the Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)specification which allows communication at up to 3 Mbps.

A 2.45 GHz chip antenna 486 is used on the pen for the Bluetoothcommunications.

The BlueCore4 is capable of forming a UART to USB bridge. This is usedto allow USB communications via data/power socket 458 at the top of thepen 456.

Alternatives to Bluetooth include wireless LAN and PAN standards such asIEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) (see IEEE, 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks,http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/index.html), IEEE 802.15 (seeIEEE, 802.15 Working Group for WPAN,http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/index.html), ZigBee (see ZigBeeAlliance, http://www.zigbee.org), and WirelessUSB Cypress (seeWirelessUSB LR 2.4-GHz DSSS Radio SoC,http://www.cypress.com/cfuploads/img/products/cywusb6935.pdf), as wellas mobile standards such as GSM (see GSM Association,http://www.gsmworld.com/index.shtml), GPRS/EDGE, GPRS Platform,http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/gprs/index.shtml), CDMA (see CDMADevelopment Group, http://www.cdg.org/, and Qualcomm,http://www.qualcomm.com), and UMTS (see 3rd Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP), http://www.3gpp.org).

Power Management Chip

The pen uses an Austria Microsystems AS3603 PMU 580 (see AustriaMicrosystems, AS3603 Multi-Standard Power Management Unit Data Sheetv2.0). The PMU is used for battery management, voltage generation, powerup reset generation and driving indicator LEDs and the vibrator motor.

The PMU 580 communicates with the ARM7 microprocessor 574 via the LSSbus 590.

The PMU uses one of two sources for charging the battery 424. These arethe power from the power and USB jack 458 at the top of the pen 456 (seeFIG. 15) and the power from the pod 450 via the two conductive tubes 498(see FIG. 24). The PMU charges the pen's lithium polymer battery 424using trickle current, constant current and constant voltage modes withlittle intervention required by the ARM7 microprocessor 574. The PMUalso includes a fuel gauge which is used by the ARM7 microprocessor todetermine how much battery capacity is left.

The PMU 580 generates the following separate voltages:

-   -   a 3.0V from an LDO for the ARM7 IO voltage and the Jupiter IO        and pixel voltages.    -   3.0V from an LDO for the force sensor and force sensor filter        and amplifier (3.0V for the force sensor microprocessor is        generated from an off chip LDO since the PMU contains no LDOs        that can be left powered on).    -   3.0V from an LDO for the BlueCore4 Bluetooth device.    -   1.8V from a buck converter for the ARM7 core voltage.    -   1.85V from an LDO for the Jupiter core voltage.    -   5.2V from a charge pump for the infrared LED drive voltage.

At power up or reset of the PMU, the ARM7 IO voltage and 1.8V corevoltage are available. The other voltage sources need to be powered onvia commands from the ARM7 574 via the LSS bus 590.

Indicator LEDs 444 and the vibrator motor 446 are driven from currentsink outputs of the PMU 580.

The PMU 580 can be put into ultra low power mode via a command over theLSS bus 590. This powers down all of its external voltage sources. Thepen enters this ultra low power mode when its cap assembly 472 is on.

When the cap 472 is removed or there is an RTC wake-up alarm, the PMU580 receives a power on signal 596 from the force sensor microprocessor582 and initiates a reset cycle. This holds the ARM7 microprocessor 574in a reset state until all voltages are stable. A reset cycle can alsobe initiated by the ARM7 574 via a LSS bus message or by a reset switch598 which is located at the top of the pen next to the USB and powerjack 458 (see FIG. 15).

Force Sensor Subsystem

The force sensor subsystem comprises a custom Hokuriku force sensor 500(based on Hokuriku, HFD-500 Force Sensor,http://www.hdk.co.jp/pdf/eng/e13811AA.pdf), an amplifier and low passfilter 600 implemented using op-amps and a force sensor microprocessor582.

The pen uses a Silicon Laboratories C8051F330 as the force sensormicroprocessor 582 (see Silicon Laboratories, C8051F330/1 MCU DataSheet, rev 1.1). The C8051F330 is an 8051 microprocessor with on chipflash memory, 10 bit ADC and 10 bit DAC. It contains an internal 24.5MHz oscillator and also uses an external 32.768 kHz tuning fork.

The Hokuriku force sensor 500 is a silicon piezoresistive bridge sensor.An op-amp stage 600 amplifies and low pass (anti-alias) filters theforce sensor output. This signal is then sampled by the force sensormicroprocessor 582 at 5 kHz.

Alternatives to piezoresistive force sensing include capacitive andinductive force sensing (see Wacom, “Variable capacity condenser andpointer”, US Patent Application 20010038384, filed 8 Nov. 2001, andWacom, Technology, http://www.wacom-components.com/english/tech.asp).

The force sensor microprocessor 582 performs further (digital) filteringof the force signal and produces the force sensor values for the digitalink stream. A frame sync signal from the Jupiter image sensor 576 isused to trigger the generation of each force sample for the digital inkstream. The temperature is measured via the force sensormicroprocessor's 582 on chip temperature sensor and this is used tocompensate for the temperature dependence of the force sensor andamplifier. The offset of the force signal is dynamically controlled byinput of the microprocessor's DAC output into the amplifier stage 600.

The force sensor microprocessor 582 communicates with the ARM7microprocessor 574 via the LSS bus 590.

There are two separate interrupt lines from the force sensormicroprocessor 582 to the ARM7 microprocessor 574. One is used toindicate that a force sensor sample is ready for reading and the otherto indicate that a pen down/up event has occurred.

The force sensor microprocessor flash memory is programmed in-circuit bythe ARM7 microprocessor 574.

The force sensor microprocessor 582 also provides the real time clockfunctionality for the pen 400. The RTC function is performed in one ofthe microprocessor's counter timers and runs from the external 32.768kHz tuning fork. As a result, the force sensor microprocessor needs toremain on when the cap 472 is on and the ARM7 574 is powered down. Hencethe force sensor microprocessor 582 uses a low power LDO separate fromthe PMU 580 as its power source. The real time clock functionalityincludes an interrupt which can be programmed to power up the ARM7 574.

The cap switch 602 is monitored by the force sensor microprocessor 582.When the cap assembly 472 is taken off (or there is a real time clockinterrupt), the force sensor microprocessor 582 starts up the ARM7 572by initiating a power on and reset cycle in the PMU 580.

Pen Design

Electronics PCBs and Cables

There are two PCBs in the pen, the main PCB 422 (FIG. 63) and the flexPCB 496 (FIG. 19). The other separate components in the design are thebattery 424, the force sensor 500, the vibrator motor 446 and theconductive tubes 498 (FIG. 16) which function as the power connector tothe pod 450 (FIG. 31).

Main PCB

FIGS. 63 and 64 show top and bottom perspectives respectively of themain PCB 422. The main PCB 422 is a 4-layer FR4 1.0 mm thick PCB withminimum trace width and separation of 100 microns. Via specification is0.2 mm hole size in a 0.4 mm pad. The main PCB 422 is a rectangularboard with dimensions 105 mm×11 mm.

The major components which are soldered to the main PCB are the AtmelARM7 microprocessor 574, the AMS PMU 580, the Silicon Labs force sensormicroprocessor 582, the op-amps for force sensor conditioning amplifier600 and the CSR Bluetooth chip 578 and its flash memory 594, antenna 486and shielding can 612.

The force sensor 500, the vibrator motor 446 and the coaxial conductivetubes 498 use sprung contacts to connect to pads on the main PCB 422.All of these items are pushed down onto the main PCB 422 by the chassismolding 416 of the pen.

There are three connectors soldered onto the main PCB 422; the flex PCBconnector 612, the power and USB jack 458 at the top of the pen 456, andthe battery cable harness connector 616. The cable harness to thebattery is the only wired cable inside the pen.

Also soldered onto the main PCB 422 is the reset switch 598. This is inthe recess 464 shown in FIG. 5.

Flex PCB

The Jupiter image sensor 576 is mounted on the flex PCB 496 as shown inFIG. 19. As the critical positioning tolerance in the pen is between theoptics 426 and the image sensor 490, the flex PCB 496 allows the opticalbarrel molding 492 to be easily aligned to the image sensor 490. Byhaving a flexible connection between the image sensor and the main PCB422, the positioning tolerance of the main PCB is not critical for thecorrect alignment of the optics 426.

The image sensor 490, the two infrared LEDs 434 and 436, and fivediscrete bypass capacitors 502 are mounted onto the flex PCB 496. Theflex is a 2-layer polyimide PCB, nominally 75 microns thick. The PCB isspecified as flex on install only, as it is not required to move afterassembly of the pen. Stiffener 612 is placed behind the discretecomponents 502 and behind the image sensor 490 in order to keep thesesections of the PCB flat. Stiffener is also placed at the connectionpads 620 to make it the correct thickness for the connector 614 the mainPCB 422 (see FIG. 28). The PCB design has been optimised for panellayout during manufacture by keeping it roughly rectangular in overallshape.

The flex PCB 496 extends from the main PCB, widening around the imagesensor 490 and then has two arms 622 and 624 that travel alongside theoptical barrel 492 to the two infrared LEDs 434 and 436. These aresoldered directly onto the arms 622 and 624 of flex PCB. The totallength of the flex PCB is 41.5 mm and at its widest point it is 9.5 mm.

The image sensor 490 is mounted onto the flex PCB 496 using a chip onflex PCB (COF) approach. In this technology, the bare Jupiter die 628 isglued onto the flex PCB 496 and the pads on the die are wire-bonded ontotarget pads on the flex PCB. These target pads are located beside thedie. The wire-bonds are then encapsulated to prevent corrosion. Twonon-plated holes 626 in the flex PCB next to the die 628 are used toalign the PCB to the optical barrel 492. The optical barrel is thenglued in place to provide a seal around the image sensor 470. Thehorizontal positional tolerance between the centre of the optical pathand the centre of the imaging area on the Jupiter die 628 is +/−50microns. The vertical tolerance due to the thickness of the die, thethickness of the glue layer and the alignment of the optical barrel 492to the front of the flex PCB 496 is +/−5 microns. In order to fit in theconfined space at the front of the pen, the Jupiter die 628 is designedso that the pads required for connection in the Netpage pen are placeddown opposite sides of the die.

Pod and External Cables

There are three main functions that are required by the pod and externalcabling. They are:

-   -   provide a charging voltage so that the pen can recharge its        battery,    -   provide a relay mechanism for transferring stored digital ink to        the Netpage server via its Bluetooth/USB adapter and    -   provide a relay mechanism for downloading new program code to        the pen via its Bluetooth/USB adapter.        Pod

Again referring to FIGS. 31 and 32, when the pen 400 is inserted intothe pod 450, power is provided by way of two sprung contacts 516 in thepod which connect to the two coaxial conductive tubes 498 that hold theink cartridge tube 536 in the pen. The power for the pod 450 and the pen400 charging is provided by USB bus power.

The pod has a tethered cable 572 which ends in two connectors. One is aUSB “A” plug. The other is a 4-way jack socket. This 4-way jack socketis the same one present at the top of the pen (see socket 458 in FIG.15). When the 4-way jack is inserted into the pod's cable, it providespower for the pod and to the pen for charging. Otherwise, the power forthe pod and the pen charging is provided by the USB bus power.

Three indicator LEDs 452 are present in the pod. They indicate thestatus of pen charging and communications.

Pod PCB

The pod PCB 560 contains a CSR BlueCore4-External device. This is thesame type of Bluetooth device as used in the pen 400. The BlueCore4device functions as a USB to Bluetooth bridge.

Cabling

Three cables are provided with the pen. The first cable 572 is tetheredto the pod. At the other end of the cable is a USB A connector and a4-way jack socket. There are six wires going into the pod, the four USBwires and two from the 4-way jack socket.

The second cable is a USB cable 462 (FIG. 15) with a USB A connector onone end and a 4-way jack on the other end. The 4-way jack can beconnected to either the pod or the top of the pen.

The third cable is a plug pack power cable (not shown) which plugs intoa power outlet at one end and has a 4-way jack on the other end. This4-way jack can be connected to either the pod 450 or the top of the pen456.

Connection Options

FIG. 61 shows the main charging and connection options for the pen andpod:

-   -   Option 1 shows a USB connection from a host 630 to the pod 450.        The pen 400 is in the pod 450. The pod 450 and the pen 400        communicate via Bluetooth. The pod is powered by the USB bus        power. The pen is charged from the USB bus power. As a result        the maximum USB power of 500 mA must be available in order to        charge the pen.    -   Option 2 shows a USB connection from the host 630 to the pod 450        and a plug pack 632 attached to the pod cable 572. The pen 400        is in the pod 450. The pod and the pen communicate via        Bluetooth. The pod is powered by the plug pack. The pen is        charged from the plug pack power.    -   Option 3 shows a USB connection from the host 630 to the pod 450        and a plug pack 632 attached to the pen 400. The pen 400 is in        the pod 450. The pod and the pen communicate via Bluetooth. The        pod is powered by the USB bus power. The pen is charged from the        plug pack power.    -   Option 4 shows a plug pack 632 attached to the pod cable 572.        The pen 400 is in the pod 450. There is no communication        possible between the pod and the pen. The pod is powered by the        plug pack. The pen is charged from the plug pack power.    -   Option 5 shows a USB connection from the host 630 to the pen        400. The pen 400 is not in the pod 450. The host 630 and the pen        400 communicate via USB, allowing a wired, non-RF communication        link. The pen is charged from the USB bus power. As a result the        maximum USB power of 500 mA must be available in order to charge        the pen.    -   Option 6 shows the plug pack 632 attached to the pen 400. The        pen 400 is not in the pod 450. The pen is charged from the plug        pack power.    -   Other connection options are not shown. However, it should be        kept in mind that the pod is powered via its 4-way jack        connector (and not from the USB bus power) if there is a        connector in this jack. Also, the pen is powered from its 4-way        jack (and not from its pod connection) when there is a connector        in this jack.        Battery and Power Consumption

Referring to FIG. 68, the pen 400 contains a Lithium polymer battery 424with a nominal capacity of 340 mAh. It's dimensions are 90.5 mm long×12mm wide×4.5 mm thick.

Based on the pen design, Table 4 shows the current requirements forvarious pen and Bluetooth states.

TABLE 4 Battery drain currents for all Pen states. Total mA @ StateNotes VBatt¹ Pen Capped Pen is off 0.110 Pen Active Pen Down 92.7 PenHover-1 Pen up, trying to decoded tags 31.7 Pen Hover-2 Pen up, decodingtags 62.9 Pen Idle Pen up, not trying to decode tags 28.8 Bluetooth NotBluetooth IC off 0.0 Connected Bluetooth Connection Bluetooth connectedin low power, 0.6 Timeout no digital ink to download Bluetooth ConnectedBluetooth connected in low power 4.1 (Sniff) Sniff state BluetoothConnected Bluetooth connected in high 50.1 (Active) power Active stateBluetooth Connecting Bluetooth trying to connect 15.1 Network AccessPoint ¹Sum of all current drains at battery. The Bluetooth currents canbe concurrent with and additive to the Pen-state currents.Pen Usage Scenarios

Some general usage scenarios are summarised here, showing the energyrequirements needed to fulfil these scenarios.

Worst Case Scenario

Summary: The pen is used intensively for 4 hours (cursive writing) andwill sit capped for one month (31 days), trying to offload storeddigital ink.

The energy requirement for this scenario is 968 mAh. The nominal 340 mAhhour battery would achieve 35% of energy requirement for this scenario.

Single Working Week Case Scenario

Summary: The pen is used for cursive writing for a total of one hour aday for five days. and is capped for the remaining time. Total time forscenario is seven days.

The energy requirement for this scenario is 456 mAh. The nominal 340 mAhhour battery would achieve 75% of energy requirement for this scenario.

Single Working Week Not Capped During Working Hours Case Scenario

Summary: The pen is used for cursive writing for a total of one hour aday for five days. and is capped for the remaining time. Total time forscenario is seven days.

The energy requirement for this scenario is 1561 mAh. The nominal 340mAh hour battery would achieve 22% of energy requirement for thisscenario.

Software Design

Netpage Pen Software Overview

The Netpage pen software comprises that software running onmicroprocessors in the Netpage pen 400 and Netpage pod 450.

The pen contains a number of microprocessors, as detailed in theElectronics Design section described above. The Netpage pen softwareincludes software running on the Atmel ARM7 CPU 574 (hereafter CPU), theForce Sensor microprocessor 582, and also software running in the VM onthe CSR BlueCore Bluetooth module 578 (hereafter pen BlueCore). Each ofthese processors has an associated flash memory which stores theprocessor specific software, together with settings and other persistentdata. The pen BlueCore 578 also runs firmware supplied by the modulemanufacturer, and this firmware is not considered a part of the Netpagepen software.

The pod 450 contains a CSR BlueCore Bluetooth module (hereafter podBlueCore). The Netpage pen software also includes software running inthe VM on the pod BlueCore.

As the Netpage pen 400 traverses a Netpage tagged surface 548, a streamof correlated position and force samples are produced (see NetpageOverview above). This stream is referred to as DInk. Note that DInk mayinclude samples with zero force (so called “Hover DInk”) produced whenthe Netpage pen is in proximity to, but not marking, a Netpage taggedsurface.

The CPU component of the Netpage pen software is responsible for DInkcapture, tag image processing and decoding (in conjunction with theJupiter image sensor 576), storage and offload management, hostcommunications, user feedback and software upgrade. It includes anoperating system (RTOS) and relevant hardware drivers. In addition, itprovides a manufacturing and maintenance mode for calibration,configuration or detailed (non-field) fault diagnosis. The Force Sensormicroprocessor 582 component of the Netpage pen software is responsiblefor filtering and preparing force samples for the main CPU. The penBlueCore VM software is responsible for bridging the CPU UART 588interface to USB when the pen is operating in tethered mode. The penBlueCore VM software is not used when the pen is operating in Bluetoothmode.

The pod BlueCore VM software is responsible for sensing when the pod 450is charging a pen 400, controlling the pod LEDs 452 appropriately, andcommunicating with the host PC via USB.

A more detailed description of the software modules is set out below.

The Netpage pen software is field upgradable, with the exception of theinitial boot loader. The field upgradable portion does include thesoftware running on the Force Sensor microprocessor 582. Softwareupgrades are delivered to the pen via its normal communicationmechanisms (Bluetooth or USB). After being received and validated, a newsoftware image will be installed on the next shutdown/startup cycle whenthe pen contains no DInk pending offload.

Netpage System Overview

The Netpage pen software is designed to operate in conjunction with alarger software system, comprising Netpage relays and Netpage servers.The following is a brief overview of these systems in relation to theNetpage pen—a detailed discussion of the software for these systems andthe specification of its interface to Netpage pen software is set out inthe cross referenced documents.

Netpage relays are responsible for receiving DInk from pens, andtransmitting that DInk to Netpage servers or local applications. Therelay is a trusted service running on a device trusted by the pen(paired in Bluetooth terminology). The relay provides wide areanetworking services, bridging the gap between the pen and DInk consumers(such as Netpage servers or other applications). The primary relaydevice will be a desktop/laptop computer equipped with a Netpage pod.Bluetooth equipped mobile phones and PDAs can also be used as relays.Relays provide the pen with access to WAN services by bridging theBluetooth connection to GPRS, WiFi or traditional wired LANs.

Netpage servers persist DInk permanently, and provide both applicationservices for DInk based applications (such as handwriting recognitionand form completion), and database functionality for persisted DInk(such as search, retrieval and reprinting).

Local applications may receive the DInk stream from the Netpage relayand use it for application specific purposes (such as for pointerreplacement in image creation/manipulation applications).

Internal Design

The Netpage pen software is divided into a number of major modules:

-   -   Image Processing    -   DInk storage and offload management    -   Host Communications    -   User Feedback    -   Power Management    -   Software Upgrade    -   Real Time Operating System    -   Hardware Drivers    -   Manufacturing and Maintenance mode    -   Force Sensor Microprocessor software    -   Pen BlueCore VM software    -   Pod BlueCore VM software

The remainder of this section gives a brief overview of these majorsoftware modules.

Image Processing

The position information in the DInk stream produced by traversing aNetpage tagged surface is produced by performing an analysis of taggedimages captured by the Jupiter Image Sensor 576.

The Image Processing module is responsible for analysing images capturedby Jupiter, identifying and decoding tags, estimating the pose of thepen, and combining this information to obtain position samples.

DInk Storage and Offload Management

Any DInk which corresponds to physical marking of a Netpage taggedsurface (e.g. excluding Hover DInk) must be reliably and transactionallyrecorded by the Netpage system to allow for accurate reproduction of theNetpage tagged surface. Ensuring such DInk is recorded is theresponsibility of the DInk storage and offload management software. Itpersists DInk in flash memory on the Netpage pen, and arranges foroffload of DInk to a Netpage server via a Netpage relay. This offloadprocess is transactional—the pen software maintains its record of DInkuntil it can guarantee that DInk has been received and persisted by aNetpage server.

DInk may be streamed in real time to applications requiring real timeresponse to DInk (for example applications which use the pen as areplacement for a mouse or table pointer, such as graphics editingapplications). This may be normal DInk or Hover DInk (for applicationssupporting hover), and the ability of the Netpage pen software to streamDInk to such applications is orthogonal to the storage and offloadrequirements for persistent DInk.

Host Communications

The Netpage pen software communicates with the Netpage relay eitherthrough wireless Bluetooth communication, or through a wired USBconnection. Bluetooth connectivity is provided by the pen BlueCore. USBconnectivity is provided by using the Bluetooth module in “pass through”mode.

The Communications module of the software is responsible for reliablytransmitting DInk from the DInk storage and offload management module tothe relay. It also provides management functionality such as maintaininga persistent list of known, trusted relays, and allows pairing withdevices according to user specification. The communications moduleincludes third party software (namely the ABCSP stack, see CSR, ABCSPOverview, AN11) provided by CSR for communication with the pen BlueCore.Bluetooth communication is only performed with Bluetooth paired devices,and uses the Bluetooth encryption facilities to secure thesecommunications.

User Feedback

The Netpage pen provides two LEDs (red and green) and a vibration motorfor user feedback. The user feedback software module is responsible forconverting signals from other software modules into user feedback usingthe provided mechanisms.

Power Management

The Netpage pen has a limited power budget, and its design allows fordynamic power saving in a number of ways. For example, the CPU candisable peripherals when they are not in use to save power, and the penBlueCore can be placed into a deep sleep mode or powered down when it isnot required. The CPU itself can be powered down when the pen is notperforming higher functions. Indeed, the only always-on components arethe Force Sensor microprocessor 582 and Power Management Chip 580 whichcan power on the CPU in response to external stimuli. The PowerManagement module 580 is responsible for analysing the current pen stateand optimizing the power usage by switching off un-needed peripheralsand other components as required. That is, this module intelligentlymanages the facilities offered by the Power Management module to provideoptimal power usage given the required pen functionality.

Software Upgrade

The Netpage pen software is field upgradable, obtaining new softwareimages via its Bluetooth or USB connections. The Software Upgrade moduleis responsible for managing the download of complete images via theCommunications module, validating these images against includedchecksums, and arranging for the pen to boot from a revised image whenit has been validated.

The Software Upgrade process happens largely concurrently with normalpen behaviour. The download of new images can happen concurrently withnormal pen operation and DInk offload. However, the actual switch toboot from a new software image is only performed when no outstandingDInk remains to be offloaded. This simplifies management of the internalDInk formats, allowing them to be upgraded as necessary in new softwareloads. Existing pairing arrangements with relays are expected to survivesoftware upgrade, although under some circumstances it may be necessaryto repeat pairing operations.

It should also be noted that small parts of the Netpage pen software,such as basic boot logic, are not field upgradable. These parts of thesoftware are minimal and tightly controlled.

Note that the Software Upgrade module also manages software images forthe Force Sensor microprocessor. Images for the latter form a part ofthe Netpage pen software load, and the Software Upgrade modulereprograms the Force Sensor microprocessor in the field when a new imagecontains revisions to the Force Sensor microprocessor software.

Real Time Operating System

The Netpage pen software includes a Real Time Operating System (RTOS)for efficient management of CPU resources. This allows optimal handlingof concurrent DInk capture, persistence, and offload despite thelatencies involved in image capture, flash manipulation, andcommunication resources.

The RTOS for the Netpage pen software is the uC/OS II RTOS from MicriumSystems (see Labrosse, J. L., MicroC OS II. The Real Time Kernel, 2ndEdition, CMP Books, ISBN 1578201039). This part of the Netpage pensoftware is comprised largely of third party code supplied by Micrium,tailored and customized for the needs of the pen.

Hardware Drivers

The Netpage pen software includes hardware drivers for all peripherals(both internal to the CPU and external to it) required for operation ofthe Netpage pen 400. This includes USRT 586, UART 588 and LSS 590drivers for external bus communication, as well as higher level driversfor managing the Jupiter Image Sensor 576, the pen BlueCore 578, theForce Sensor microprocessor 582, the Power Management IC 580, and otherinternal systems.

Manufacturing and Maintenance Mode

The Netpage pen 400 may be put into a special manufacturing andmaintenance mode for factory calibration or detailed non-field failureanalysis. A deployed pen will never enter manufacturing and maintenancemode. It is a configuration, diagnostic and rectification mode that isonly expected to be used by Silverbrook engineers under controlledconditions. The mechanism for placing the Netpage pen software intomaintenance mode is not described here.

Force Sensor Microprocessor Software

The Force Sensor microprocessor 582 is an independent CPU tasked withfiltering and resampling the force data obtained from the Force Sensor500 proper to produce a stream of force samples to be included into theDInk stream as recorded by the pen. It is also responsible forinitiating a wakeup of the CPU 574 in response to a pen down, uncap, ortimer event, in the case that the CPU has been switched off for powersaving purposes.

Pen BlueCore VM Software

The pen BlueCore is capable of running a small amount of software in avirtual machine (VM). Such VM software is highly resource limited, butcan access the Bluetooth functionality, the I/O ports, and a smallnumber of GPIO pins on the pen BlueCore. A small part of the Netpage pensoftware will run on the pen BlueCore in order to manage bridging theCPU UART to the USB connection provided by the pen BlueCore.

Pod BlueCore VM Software

The Netpage pod 450 contains a CSR BlueCore Bluetooth module, but nogeneral purpose microprocessor. The pod BlueCore runs Netpage pensoftware in its VM. This software is responsible for sensing when thepod 450 is charging a pen 400, controlling the pod LEDs 452 to indicatecharging and communications status, and managing the USB communicationlink between the pod BlueCore and the host PC. Note that BlueCoreprovides a split stack model for the Bluetooth network stack, and themajority of the Bluetooth network stack will in fact be running on thehost PC (where it has considerably greater access to resources).

Pen Assembly Sequence

The various sub-assemblies and components are manually inserted into thepen chassis molding 416 (see FIG. 65). There are no special toolsrequired to insert any of the assemblies as there is extensive use ofsnap fits and bumps on moldings for location. The only assembly toolneeded is a cold staking procedure required after a testing to seal thepen assembly.

The assembly sequence for the pen is as follows:

Pen Chassis Assembly

The elastomeric end cap 460 is fed through an aperture 634 at the end ofthe chassis molding 416 and a tab 636 pulled through to secure it inplace.

Optics Assembly

The optics assembly sequence is as follows:

-   -   The lens is offered up to the aperture stop in the barrel and        adhered in place.    -   The infrared filter is pushed into place in the front of the        barrel molding.    -   The flex with image sensor is offered up to the top of the        barrel molding and accurately located onto two pins.    -   Epoxy is applied around the base of the barrel molding to bond        the flex into place and seal the image sensor from light and        particulate contaminants.        Optics Assembly Insertion

As shown in FIG. 66A, the optics assembly 470 with the unfolded flex PCB496 protruding is inserted into the chassis moulding 416 and snappedinto place. The IR LEDs 434 and 436 are then manipulated into cradles638 either side of the barrel moulding 492 as shown in FIG. 66B.

Force Sensing Assembly Insertion

As shown in FIGS. 67A and 67B, the force sensing assembly 474 is fedthrough between the chassis moulding 416 and the optical barrel moulding492. The assembly 474 is pivoted down and the force sensor is secured inthe correct orientation into the chassis moulding between ribs 640 and asupport detail 642.

The vibration motor 446 with elastomeric boot 644 is assembled into anaperture in the chassis 416. The boot 644 has negative draft on thesupport detail 642, which secures the motor 446 into the chassis 416 andorients it correctly.

A light pipe moulding 448 is placed into the chassis moulding 416 and isa force fit.

PCB And Battery Insertion

The end of the optics flex PCB 496 is offered into the flex connector614 on the main PCB 422 and secured.

The main PCB 422 and LiPo battery 424 are then connected together as thesocket is on the upper side of the PCB 422 and is not accessible whenthe board is in the chassis moulding 416. The battery 424 has foam padsto protect the components on the lower side of the PCB and to inhibitmovement of the battery when it is fully assembled.

Referring to FIG. 69, the main PCB 422 and battery 424 can now be swunginto place in the chassis moulding 416, with care being taken not tounduly stress the flex PCB 496.

FIGS. 70A and 70B shows a cold stake tool 646 sealing a cold stake pin648 to an aperture 650 the base moulding 528. The cold stake 648 is usedto help locate the PCB 422 into the chassis moulding 416 and with gentlepressure the walls of the chassis 416 expand enough to allow snap fitsto engage with the PCB and hold it securely. The PCB can still beextracted by flexing the chassis walls in the same manner if necessary.The battery can be tacked in place with adhesive tape if required.

The base moulding 528 is hinged onto the chassis moulding 416 and isfully located when the cold stake 648 appears in the aperture 650.

Testing and Staking

At this point the assembly is complete enough to perform an optical andelectronic diagnostic test. If any problems occur, the assembly caneasily be stripped down again.

Once approved, a cold stake tool 646 is applied to the pin 648 from thechassis molding 416 swaging it over to hold the base molding 528 captive(FIG. 70B). This prevents any user access to internal parts.

Product Label

FIG. 71 shows a product label 652 being applied to the base molding 416,which covers the cold stake 648. This label carries all necessaryproduct information for this class of digital mobile product. It isexposed when the customisable tube molding 466 (see FIG. 73) is removedby the user.

NIB Molding Insertion

As shown in FIG. 72, the nib molding 428 is offered up to the penassembly and is permanently snapped into place against the chassis 416and the base moldings 528 to form a sealed pen unit.

Tube Molding Assembly

As shown in FIG. 73, the tube molding 466 is slid over the pen assembly.The tube 466 is a transparent molding drafted from the centre to allowfor thin walls. An aquagraphic print is applied to the surface with amask used to retain a window 412, which looks through to the light pipe448 in the pen during use. A location detail 656 on the chassis molding416 provides positive feedback when the molding is pushed home. The usercan remove the tube molding by holding the nib end and pulling withoutgaining access to the pen assembly.

Cap Insertion

The cap assembly is fitted onto the pen to complete the product as shownin FIG. 74.

Netpage Pen Major Power States

FIG. 75 shows the various power states that the pen can adopt, as wellas the pen functions during those power states.

Capped

In the Capped state 656, the Pen does not perform any capture cycles.

Corresponding Pen Bluetooth states are Connected, Connecting, ConnectionTimeout or Not Connected.

Hover1

In the Hover1 state 658, the Pen is performing very low frequencycapture cycles (of the order of 1 capture cycle per second). Eachcapture cycle is tested for a valid decode, which indicates that theuser is attempting to use the Pen in hover mode.

Valid Pen Bluetooth states are Connected or Connecting.

Hover2

In the Hover2 state 660, the Pen is performing capture cycles of a lowerfrequency than in the Active state 662 (of the order 50 capture cyclesper second). Each capture cycle is tested for a valid decode, whichindicates that the user is continuing to use the Pen in hover mode.After a certain number of failed decodes, the Pen is no longerconsidered to be in hover mode.

Valid Pen Bluetooth states are Connected or Connecting.

Idle

In the Idle state 664, the Pen is not performing any capture cycles,however, the Pen is active in as much as it is able to start the firstof a number of capture cycles within 5 ms of a pen down event.

Valid Pen Bluetooth states are Connected or Connecting.

Active

In the Active state 662, the Pen is performing capture cycles at fullrate (100 capture cycles per second).

Valid Pen Bluetooth states are Connected or Connecting.

Netpage Pen Bluetooth States

FIG. 76 shows Netpage Pen power states that are related to the Bluetoothwireless communications subsystem in order to respond to digital inkoffload requirements. Additionally, the Pen can accept connections fromdevices in order to establish a Bluetooth Pairing.

Each of the possible Pen Bluetooth related states are described in thefollowing sections.

Connected

In the Connected state 666 the primary task for the Pen is to offloadany digital ink that may be present within Pen storage, or to streamdigital ink as it is being captured. Whilst in the Connected state itshould also be possible for other devices to discover and connect to thepen for the purposes of Bluetooth Pairing.

In order to reduce power consumption whilst connected, it is desirableto take advantage of the relatively low bandwidth requirements ofdigital ink transmission and periodically enter a Bluetooth low powermode. A useful low power mode will typically be Sniff mode, wherein theperiodic Bluetooth activity required of the Pen is reduced based on theSniff interval, with the Sniff interval being determined by the currentbandwidth requirements of digital ink transmission.

Connecting

Whilst in the Connecting state 668, the Pen attempts to establish aconnection to one of a number of known NAPs (Network Access Points)either to offload digital ink stored within Pen memory, or inanticipation of a sequence of capture cycles.

Upon entry into the Connecting state 668, the Pen attempts anInquiry/Page of each device in round-robin fashion with a relativelyhigh frequency. If the connection is unsuccessful, the frequency ofInquiry/Page is reduced successively in a number of steps in order toreduce overall power consumption.

An Inquiry can last for 10.24 s and is repeated at a random interval.Initially the Inquiry may be repeated on average at 5 s intervals forthe first 3 attempts, followed by 30 s for the next 5 attempts and then5 minute intervals for the next 10 attempts and 10 minute intervals forsubsequent attempts.

Connection Timeout

In the Connection Timeout state 670, the Pen maintains the currentBluetooth connection by entering a Bluetooth low power Sniff state withrelatively long sniff interval (e.g. 2.56 seconds) for a period of atleast 2 minutes before disconnecting. Re-establishment of the connectionis not attempted, should the connection be dropped before 2 minutes haveelapsed.

Not Connected

In the Not Connected state 672, the Pen does not hold any digital ink inits internal memory, and is capped. There is no Bluetooth activity, andno Bluetooth connection exists.

Discoverable and not Discoverable

The Pen is only discoverable 674 during the major states of Hover1 658and Idle 664. The Pen periodically enters the inquiry scan and page scanstates whilst in Hover1 658 or Idle 664, in order to respond toconnection requests from other devices.

Cap Detection Circuit

Referring once again to FIG. 26, a cap detection circuit diagram isshown. As discussed above, the presence or absence of the cap assembly472 on the nib molding 428 can directly determine the Pen power stateand the Bluetooth state. The cap assembly 472 serves the dual purposesof protecting the nib 418 and the imaging optics 426 when the pen 400 isnot in use, and signalling, via its removal or replacement, the pen toleave or enter a power-preserving state.

As described in the ‘Pod Assembly’ section above, the pen 400 hascoaxial conductive tubes 498 that provide a set of externalcontacts—power contacts 678 and data contacts 680. These mate withcontacts 516 in the pod 450 to provide the pen with charging power and aUSB connection. When placed over the nib molding 428, the conductiveelastomeric molding 522 short-circuits the pen's power contacts 678 tosignal the presence of the cap.

The pen has three capping states:

-   -   cap on    -   cap off, not in pod    -   cap off, in pod

In the cap on state, the CAP_ON signal 682 is high. The pen will bepowered off, subject to other pending activities such as digital inkoffload, as described above in the NetPage Pen Bluetooth States section.

In the cap off, not in pod state, the CAP_ON signal 682 is low. The penwill be powered on.

In the cap off, in pod state, the CAP_ON signal 682 is low. The pen willbe powered on.

The CAP_ON signal 682 triggers transitions to and from the Capped state656, as described in the NetPage Pen Power States section above, via thepower management unit 580 and the Amtel ARM7 microprocessor 574 (see PenDesign section above).

The battery charger can use the VCHG signal 684 to charge the battery.The VCHG signal 684 can be connected to the USB VBUS voltage (nominally5V) to allow the battery to be charged at up to 500 mA (based on the USBspecification). The VCHG signal can also be connected to a highervoltage generated by boosting the USB VBUS voltage (maximum chargingcurrent would be lower than 500 mA). Alternatively, the VCHG signal canbe connected to a different voltage, e.g. from a DC plug pack 632 (seeConnection Options section) connected to the pod 450. In this case, thepen is a self-powered USB device from the point of view of the USB host630.

When the cap assembly 472 is removed, the CAP_ON signal 682 is pulledlow via transistor Q1 686. The switching time of Q1, and hence thelatency of cap removal detection, is a function of the stray capacitanceof Q1 and the value of resistor R1 688. A value of 1 Mohm results in alatency of about 0.5 ms. The cap removal detection latency must bebalanced against the discharge rate of the battery in the capped state.A value of 1 Mohm yields a trivial discharge rate of 3 μA. Diode D1 690stops the battery being charged from the VCHG voltage 684 through R1688. The external USB host 630 (see FIG. 61) is connected to the USBdevice 692 in the pen 400 via the USB+ 694 and USB− 696 signals.Although the circuit in FIG. 26 is shown with reference to a four-wireUSB interface, the cap detection function of the circuit only relates tothe two-wire power interface, and the pen can have a two-pin externalpower interface rather than a four-pin external USB interface dependingon product configuration.

The above description is purely illustrative and the skilled worker inthis field will readily recognize many variations and modifications thatdo not depart from the spirit and scope of the broad inventive concept.

1. A force sensor assembly comprising: a housing; a load bearing memberfor receiving an input force to be sensed, said load bearing memberhaving a first protrusion with round end for engagement with thecoupling; circuitry for converting the input force into an output signalindicative of the input force; a coupling for transmitting the inputforce to the load bearing member, said coupling having a secondprotrusion extending centrally from a flange such that the distal end ofthe protrusion engages the rounded end of the first protrusion from theload bearing member; a compressible reservoir containing dilatant fluidmounted between the housing and the flange to restrict the input forceto the load bearing member caused by shock loading to the coupling,wherein the housing defines a recess for the circuitry, the rounded endof the first protrusion from the load bearing member extends proud ofthe recess for engaging the coupling.
 2. A force sensor assemblyaccording to claim 1 wherein the compressible reservoir of dilatantfluid maintains a gap between the load bearing member and the couplingwhen the input force is not applied, and the compressible reservoircompresses to allow the coupling to directly engage the load bearingmember with a steady application of the input force.
 3. A force sensorassembly according to claim 2 wherein the compressible reservoir issecured to the housing and the coupling, and the coupling is biased awayfrom the housing to maintain the gap between the coupling and loadbearing member when the input force is not applied.
 4. A force sensorassembly according to claim 1 wherein the compressible reservoir has anannular shape and is positioned around the opening to the recess andaround the second protrusion from the flange of the coupling.
 5. A forcesensor assembly according to claim 1 wherein the output signal from thecircuitry support a hand writing recognition facility.
 6. A force sensorassembly according to claim 1 wherein the load bearing member can moveup to 100 microns relative to the housing.
 7. An electronic styluscomprising: an elongate body; a nib extending from one end of theelongate body; and, a load bearing member mounted to the elongate bodyfor receiving an input force caused by contact on the nib, said loadbearing member having a first protrusion with round end for engagementwith the coupling; circuitry for converting the input force into anoutput signal indicative of the input force; a coupling for transmittingthe input force to the load bearing member, said coupling having asecond protrusion extending centrally from a flange such that the distalend of the protrusion engages the rounded end of the first protrusionfrom the load bearing member; and, a compressible reservoir containingdilatant fluid mounted between the housing and the flange to restrictthe input force to the load bearing member caused by shock loading tothe coupling, wherein the housing defines a recess for the circuitry,the rounded end of the first protrusion from the load bearing memberextends proud of the recess for engaging the coupling.
 8. An electronicstylus according to claim 7 wherein the compressible reservoir has anannular shape and is positioned around the opening to the recess andaround the second protrusion from the flange of the coupling.
 9. Anelectronic stylus according to claim 7 wherein the compressiblereservoir of dilatant fluid maintains a gap between the load bearingmember and the coupling when the input force is not applied, and thecompressible reservoir compresses to allow the coupling to directlyengage the load bearing member with a steady application of the inputforce.
 10. An electronic stylus according to claim 9 wherein thecompressible reservoir is secured to the housing and the coupling, andthe coupling is biased away from the housing to maintain the gap betweenthe coupling and load bearing member when the input force is notapplied.
 11. An electronic stylus according to claim 7 wherein the nibof the electronic stylus is a ball point writing nib with a tubular inkcartridge extending from the nib toward the load bearing member suchthat the coupling is a detachable boot that fits over the end of thecartridge opposite the nib.
 12. An electronic stylus according to claim11 wherein the input force can be up to 5 Newtons.
 13. An electronicstylus according to claim 7 wherein the circuitry is a piezoresistivebridge circuit.
 14. An electronic stylus according to claim 7 whereinthe load bearing member can move up to 100 microns relative to thehousing.
 15. An electronic stylus according to claim 7 wherein theoutput signal from the circuitry support a hand writing recognitionfacility.